


Devil's Trill

by IloveHajishun111



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, Ferdibertweek day 3&4, Ferdinand POV, Heavy Angst, How to tag without spoiling, M/M, Mutual Pining, OOC, Older Hubert, slow burn for Ferdinand, unbeta, younger Ferdinand
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:47:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21562438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IloveHajishun111/pseuds/IloveHajishun111
Summary: Ferdinand von Aegir was a noble of all nobles. His dream was to join the Knights of Seiros and became a hero like the ones in his chivalry storybooks, but his life took a drastic turn the moment he met an evil-looking priest in an abandoned church just a week before his 18th birthday.Ferdibert week Day 3&4
Relationships: Ferdinand von Aegir/Hubert von Vestra
Comments: 7
Kudos: 100





	Devil's Trill

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution for Ferdibertweek Day 3&4 that I've been working on for a month, for what themes, read till the end to find out :D  
> WARNING: Before you continue, please read this. The fic is about YOUNG!Ferdinand and ADULT!Hubert, if this is not your reference or you can't tolerate relationship between an older person with someone younger, please kindly hit back. There will be smut but it is when Ferdinand grows up (23) Thank you and enjoy!

**DEVIL’S TRILL**

**_Prologue_ **

_ Ferdinand von Aegir was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. _ That was what the whispers said about him, a noble who had it all.

Not many nobles were blessed with such bright orange hair like Ferdinand’s, and he was quite proud of it. They said it glowed in the daylight like the sun itself. The first time he heard that, he remembered smiling so widely, his jaws hurt. His mother said that he was brought to her by the Goddess herself, a baby delivered by the angels from above. He knew it was just hyperbole since his parents were having trouble conceiving children at that time. The doctors had said that his mother was not in the best condition to have children. His father was furious, ready to find a mistress if not for his mother’s miraculous announcement one day, that she was pregnant with him. Nine months later, Ferdinand was born into the world like a miracle in the loving arms of his mother, swimming in the wealth of his father, and covered in the most extravagant baby clothes ever known to history. 

Someone like him should have lived a worry-free life, well-fed and well-dressed with his father's wealth and grow up to become a righteous noble, to join the Knights of Seiros, and then to marry a noble girl to continue the von Aegir bloodline. 

But fate had other plans for him. 

Ferdinand was not a noble who shied away from a challenge. But brave as he was, he never imagined having his soul taken from him by that evil man, Hubert von Vestra, never to have it returned to him ever since.

**_I. Larghetto affettuoso_ **

Everything started when he was seventeen years old, the most beautiful time of his youth - or rather it used to be, until that blasted man came into his life. 

Hubert von Vestra.

The first time Ferdinand met the man was in the abandoned church located in the outskirts of the von Aegir territory. 

He was curious about this mysterious priest that showed up out of nowhere, the man that his servants and maids were gossiping about. Some said that he had the air of death around him, others claimed that he was the reincarnation of the Devil who would drag you to hell if you dared to look him in the eyes. Some even swore that he was a vampire, which Ferdinand thought was utter nonsense, since vampires went extinct two hundred years ago.

But a priest that looked like the Devil himself? Such a sinister individual could not be allowed to reside in the peaceful, great continent of Fódlan. And so, Ferdinand took it upon himself as a noble to defeat this evil man, and bring peace back to the citizens of his land.

So, he grabbed his favorite sword and rode on his proudest steed to face this man. All of his training to become the greatest knight of his era and join the fabled Knights of Seiros was not for show. He had waited all his life to use his training against some sinister, devil-worshipping priest.

It was night time when he arrived at the church (he had to wait until after Mrs. Estieze's lesson - a noble never skipped his classes), a perfect set up for the hero to defeat the villain at his evil hideout. Perhaps the only thing missing in this real-life storybook was a damsel in distress. 

Ferdinand clenched his fist on the handle of his sword, dismounted his horse, and slowly opened the faded red wooden door. 

This church had been abandoned for ages until that evil priest showed up a month ago and made it his abode.

Upon flinging the door open, a soft violin melody filled the air, disturbing the quiet atmosphere of the parish hall. Ferdinand's eyes swept through the hall. It was mostly empty, filled with only a few ancient-looking pews. The ground was clean enough that no dust flew up to his calves as he walked down the aisle. No other soul could be seen in this perfect example of a devilish lair for the wicked, except for a dark figure standing on the altar at the far end of the hall. 

That must be the sinister priest, he guessed, since the violin also came from that direction.

Ferdinand stepped closer to the figure as the melody grew louder. It was dark inside, the only light illuminating the entire structure was the moonlight penetrating through the church windows, shining upon its only resident.

He did not recognize the melody, but was mesmerized nonetheless. For some unknown reason, he felt like he had heard it before.

It started out slow and gentle, but as he walked closer, the melody accelerated - fast and intense. The man and his violin appeared as one at that moment, playing at a rapidly, alternating between slow and fast.

The violin piece was haunting and poignant, yet also enthralling and captivating.

_ Magnificent. _

Ferdinand stood transfixed as he felt the music flowing through him, awakening a certain part inside him that he never knew was there before.

Suddenly, his cheeks felt damp.. As his hands reached out to his face to check, he realized he was crying. He, Ferdinand von Aegir, was crying while listening to some stranger play the violin - a villain at that.

_ What a disgrace! _

He quickly wiped his tears away and mustered up his courage, stomping his way towards the man in the shadows.

Once he finally had a glimpse of this evil priest, Ferdinand's will faltered.

The man was tall and slim, clad in a black ankle-long cassock with white buttons running down the front. A white sash was wrapped around his hips and a red stole with a symbol that Ferdinand didn't recognize hung on his shoulders. But what caught his attention the most, were the gloved fingers dancing upon the violin strings so gracefully and elegantly that Ferdinand suddenly wished to feel them upon his own skin.

_ Absurd!  _ He mentally shouted at himself. 

Half of the man's face was still shrouded in the shadows, his eyes half-closed, though he could spot sharp cheekbones and short dark hair, one side longer than the other hanging loosely over his right eye. The other half of his hair was tucked neatly behind his ear. 

_ He looks...beautiful, deathly beautiful _ , was the first thought that came into Ferdinand's mind. And if his heart started beating faster than usual at the sight of the man, it was just his excitement upon finally meeting his destined enemy.

As the sonata reached its climax, the priest slowly opened his eyes, locking onto Ferdinand’s. Ferdinand gasped sharply at his intense gaze. 

The man’s eyes were a rare color that Ferdinand had only ever seen on cats before - lime green with sharp, oblong pupils. Ferdinand forgot how to speak, feeling those eyes coaxing his soul out of his body.

Upon seeing Ferdinand’s face, the man's thin lips curved into a slight smirk as he asked, in a surprisingly low and smooth voice, "Can I help you with something?"

"I...Uh...Ehem..." The silky voice dragged Ferdinand out of his stupor as he cleared his throat and squared his shoulders, before trying to show off his heroic stance. But one look into those green eyes again and he felt his earlier determination vaporize into thin air. The words that came out of his mouth significantly differed from what he had in mind just a few minutes ago, "What is the name of that violin piece just now?"

Ferdinand almost bit his tongue at the question he’d asked.

The priest's eyes widened for a split second, flashing with an unreadable glint as he regarded Ferdinand, before finally granting him his answer. 

"Caught your interest, have I? Very well. Tell me your name and I shall tell you."

"My name is Ferdinand von Aegir." Ferdinand sputtered out without thinking, giving the smirking man a half-hearted glare.

"Ferdinand, was it?" The priest let out a low chuckle and started moving closer to him. 

Ferdinand wanted nothing more than to back away, but running from a villain was not what a virtuous noble did. So he straightened his posture and readied himself to face the man, even if he couldn't stop his cheeks from blushing under the other's intense gaze.

But nothing he read in the storybooks could have prepared him for what happened next. When the man was only a few inches away from Ferdinand, the man’s hand reached out, one gloved finger hooking under his chin to lift his face up. Their eyes met once again.

The warmth from that finger made his body shake, his stomach churning, but Ferdinand refused to look away from those teasing eyes, feeling like prey cornered by a poisonous snake.

"The name is 'Devil's Trill'." The man inched even closer and Ferdinand could not help but tremble as he felt the man's breath on his face, "They say that one will have their soul stolen away from them by the Devil if they listen to it. Are you also here to have your soul stolen away, little Ferdinand?"

"No!" Ferdinand mustered all his strength and shoved the man away, slipping out of his grasp. He tightened his grip on his sword and pointed it at the priest, "I have come here to defeat you, evil priest."

"Fufufu," The man let out an amused laugh and chided softly, "Why? I hardly do anything. Is it illegal for a man to play his violin at night?"

"No, that's not it." 

Ferdinand tried to think of a reason for the man to be there, but all he could think of was the sort of nonsense his servants were gossiping about. Looking at him, there appeared to be nothing sinister about him. He might have been wearing black clothing and had an unusual eye color, but none of that seemed out of the ordinary. But from what he knew about storybook villains, they never showed their true faces until the very last moment. So Ferdinand said the first thing that his brilliant mind could think of, "You suddenly appeared in this church. What is your purpose here?"

"Nothing. I just thought that it was such a waste for this church to be left abandoned, and simply tried to make it more...tolerable to the living." The man answered in that annoyingly attractive low voice again, before asking "Does the heroic von Aegir here have any proof of my wrongdoing?"

"No...Not yet!" Ferdinand yelled, "But one thing I do know, is that you're not a normal priest. I  _ will _ find the evidence of your evil deeds. If what they say about you is true, then I, Ferdinand von Aegir, won't sit still and allow you to ruin the peaceful lives of my citizens."

With that said, Ferdinand abruptly turned around and ran towards the door. He had to get out of this utterly ridiculous situation as quickly as possible, lest his heart burst out of his chest at any moment.

"Wait." He flinched, just half a step away from the exit to this evil lair, when he heard the man's voice. Ferdinand breathed in deeply before reluctantly turning around, and found himself losing his composure again.

That evil, sinister, reincarnation-of-the-devil priest was smiling at him, an actual genuine smile that made his heart stop. 

"My name is Hubert von Vestra, if that makes your job any easier. I'm looking forward to seeing you around, little Ferdinand."

With that said, the man disappeared into the shadows, leaving a dumbfounded Ferdinand freezing at the church’s threshold.

By some miracle, he somehow managed to get back to his castle and into his bed that night.

\--------------------------------

What he realized after that encounter, was that his mind sometimes wandered back to that abandoned church, to the man in the cassock and white gloves until he lost himself in that gentle smile all over again.

_ No! No! No! _

Ferdinand shook his head, as if doing so could shake the image of that man out of his mind. But his actions only served to concern his tutor for the morning, Mr. Raindell, his history teacher, "Is there something wrong, young master?" 

"No, it was nothing, Mr. Raindell. Do continue." Ferdinand lied and donned his brightest smile for the middle age tutor.

Yes, a true noble like him could not be distracted by that villain's charm. Ferdinand nodded his head and made a fist in the air.

This was his chance to prove that he, Ferdinand von Aegir, was born to join the Knights of Seiros, the army serving the Archbishop with the duty of defeating evildoers in all of Fódlan. Only the most exceptional individual could join this sacred organization, and that was his dream.

Now, all he had to do was to find proof that  _ that _ man was indeed an embodiment of evil. Then, he would have just cause to face him in a battle. It would make quite an impression on the Knights to take note of him.

So, his first stop was the library.

Of course, with the enormous collection of books in the von Aegir library, Ferdinand would certainly find some information about a 'Hubert von Vestra'.

\----

Several nights later, Ferdinand forcefully closed the last book in the library detailing Fódlan's noble families.

"This is not possible!" He let out a frustrated groan. 

To his disappointment, Ferdinand could not find even a single piece of information about the priest, or about his family name's origin. A ‘von’ meant that the man belonged to a noble family, but so far, the closest name he had found was ‘von Vestrea’.

_ That makes the man even more suspicious! _ Ferdinand thought as he headed to his bedroom. 

Ferdinand moved on to his plan B: Close Observation.

He had no other choice, but to approach that insufferable priest in order to observe his behavior in every way that he could - starting tomorrow, of course! And hopefully, he would find something to prove his suspicions about the man right.

A man living alone in a rotten church was nothing short of abnormal. 

_ There must be something shady going on inside that church. Perhaps, I will find a corpse or two tomorrow. _ Ferdinand reassured himself, as he closed his eyes and let sleep take over him.

\-------------------------

_ I am Ferdinand von Aegir and I can do this! _

Ferdinand mentally reaffirmed his determination before stomping into the church, his eyes immediately searching for that looming figure.

"Oh, little Ferdinand. To what do I owe this visit?" 

And there he was, standing on the altar reading some kind of holy book with that blasted smirk on his face, and those perfect sharp cheekbones and dark hair, and those gloved hands flipping the pages...

_ No! Focus Ferdinand! _

"I came here to find evidence of your wrong-doings by..." Ferdinand faltered, suddenly feeling his cheeks redden.

"By?" The priest asked, arching an eyebrow, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"By closely observing you from now on!" Ferdinand declared.

"Oh, little Ferdinand" The man let out a gentle, teasing laugh, "You did not just suggest that you would spend your time here with me every night now, did you?"

"Yes, I did say that, but for no other reason than to observe you, you evil bastard! Don't get the wrong idea!" Ferdinand quickly explained, trying to ignore how his face and ears must have turned a rather embarrassing shade of scarlet right then.

"Ah, is that so? Such a shame. And here I thought we're getting along well." The man cooed as he slowly stepped down from the platform and stalked towards him.

Ferdinand would never admit that he liked watching the man's graceful footsteps pounding on the floor or that he liked how well the man’s priest clothing fit him. And he most definitely did not stare at the way those lips curved upwards, wondering how that mouth tasted.

No, he simply stood his ground and readied himself to face his worst enemy.

It took the man several long strides to finally stand in front of him, but it was enough for Ferdinand to bolster his defenses as he stared into those cat-like eyes.

"Well?" The man asked with another tug of his lips.

"Well, what?" Ferdinand retorted, more cautiously this time.

"Here I am. Observe away," the man said, his arms wide open and challenging.

"Don't mock me!" Ferdinand snapped back angrily. He really wanted to knock the smirk off that man's face so badly. But first, he needed proof.

He abruptly turned to one side and slipped into one of the pews, wiping away the dust settled on the surface before he sat down and took a notebook out from his satchel.

When he looked up, Ferdinand found the man's gaze still transfixed upon him, those cat-like orbs flickering with amusement and something akin to...adoration?

Ignoring his racing heart, he glowered at the priest, "What are you standing there for? Go do your...things or whatever it is an evil-looking priest like you does at night."

\---------------------------

It turned out that the things evil priests do at night included reading a whole collection of history books, sometimes stopping to write down something in a worn-out notebook. But when Ferdinand had asked to look at it, he only found neat handwriting about the unification of Fódlan rather than any kind of black magic incantation. 

"You like to read about the history of Fódlan too?" Ferdinand blurted out without thinking upon seeing the notes.

"No. Rather, I like to read what the Church exaggerates about in their history books about their so-called victories and the blasphemies they plant in their foolish followers' heads, mixed with all the half-truths." For the first time, Ferdinand clearly heard the distinct hatred in the man's voice.

"History can't be wrong. The Church of Seiros united Fódlan under the calling of Archbishop Rhea, the one who broke the chain of tyranny under the Empire’s reign on behalf of the entire continent. The Empire was the former country of the vampires, for Goddess' sake. They would enslave us as their food sources forever if not for the Exalted March of the Church and Archbishop Rhea putting an end to those fiendish creatures." Ferdinand argued fiercely, earning him a glare from the man standing beside him. 

_ When did he get so close to him? _

"That's what they want you to believe. History is simply lies written by the winners to cover up the truth. And in this case, the false church won by using vile methods, with the intentions of keeping power that they are too afraid to lose. All I see is a corrupt organization using the image of a non-existent Goddess to brainwash people into worshiping them, eradicating anyone who dares to defy them. The destruction of the Empire is proof of the Church’s dictatorship, a Church ruled by an insane woman. " The priest hissed out with no less ferocity in his tone.

"Von Vestra! That is blasphemy! You could be executed for that." Ferdinand yelled, "How can a priest say those things about the church he supposedly dedicates his life for?"

"Hubert."

Ferdinand froze, "Excuse me?"

"You can call me Hubert," The man said with a half-smile, seemingly unconcerned with Ferdinand's insult.

"Al...alright. Hubert." Ferdinand said, ignoring his racing heart when that name slipped from his lips, "Back to my question. Should I explain the irony of how a priest could come to hate the church so much?"

“It is not a matter of how but who. Who I serve is far more important than how I should serve that false Church that has sprouted nothing but nonsense for over a century.” The priest...Hubert said with a sneer. His answer piqued Ferdinand’s curiosity, beyond the clear hostility towards the divine Church.

“Then who do you serve? What do you believe in?” Ferdinand asked, watching the taller man’s expression closely.

“My Master. She is the one who can change the world for the better.” Hubert answered, voice so soft, barely louder than a whisper, but Ferdinand heard them nonetheless. Out of nowhere, he felt a pang pierce his heart at the way Hubert described his master. He saw how his sharp eyes softened in fondness and worship, in utter devotion and love, and full of something else. Ferdinand suddenly wished that Hubert would look at him like that as well.

_ Absurd, Ferdinand. Focus on your goal _ . He mentally scolded himself.

“I see.” Ferdinand bit his lips and pretended to note down a thing or two in his book, his mind racing with a thousand more questions to ask the man. What he blurted out instead was the question that was troubling his heart, “Then why did you leave her to come here, if you love her that much?”

And for once, he thought about asking Hubert to end his life and take his soul...or whatever the man was capable of doing.

There profound silence grew between them. Ferdinand tried his best to avoid the man’s gaze that bore into his face until he couldn’t anymore. But avoiding a challenge was unfit for a noble like himself, so he took a deep breath and looked up at the priest.

What he found in those snake eyes was not hatred for the Church nor devotion for his master, nor even irritation with Ferdinand’s petulant behavior, but rather a mixture of regret, grief, and dare he say, yearning? 

Ferdinand lost himself once more in those the fathomless golden pools.

After a long minute, Hubert finally granted him his answer, eyes still locked with his own, “Suffice to say that there’s something I desire more than her. I will do anything to have it back.”

It must have been exhaustion from the long day that caused Ferdinand think that those words were directed towards him. That was absolutely impossible, given that they had met just over a week ago. However, he couldn’t stop the churning in his stomach and the frantic racing of his heart.

“May I ask what it is?” Ferdinand found himself asking, his mind blank and heart entranced.

But the magic between them ended as Hubert abruptly tore his gaze away and carefully put his neutral mask back in place. In the blink of an eye, he had returned to being the unreadable priest again. Any trace of emotion he showed just moments ago vanished as he said coldly to Ferdinand, “I think it’s time for boys to go to bed.”

\-------------------------

Ferdinand made it a routine to go to the church right after he finished his lessons. 

Hubert had not opened up to Ferdinand again since that night, though, he still answered his questions and argued about all sorts of things related to the Church and the history of Fódlan. Even if they had contrasting ideas about almost everything, for the first time in his life, Ferdinand felt ecstatic that he finally found someone worthy of being his rival. He loved debating with Hubert, with all of his sass and wits. But deep inside, Ferdinand could still see the loyalty and dedication he showed toward his cause.

The other day, they had an argument about whether tea or coffee was superior. 

Coffee! For Goddess’ sake! The most undrinkable beverage in of all Fódlan with its musty texture and bitter taste. Ferdinand had tried it once at his Father’s party and almost spat it out in front of their guests. But in some senses, the drink suited Hubert very well. He was a man with a mysterious past and questionable motives, though once you got past the bitterness, its flavor lingered on your tongue for days. 

After that heated debate, Ferdinand came back the next day with a bag of his finest tea, the Southern Fruit Blend, and demanded that they have tea time to prove his point. Surprisingly, Hubert complied. 

That was how Ferdinand had the pleasure of drinking his favorite tea with a blasphemous priest in the garden of an abandoned church. He remembered arguing with the man all night long until his eyelids felt heavy. The last thing he felt before sleep took over him was Hubert gently carrying him back to the cathedral. 

Ferdinand woke up the next morning in a neat bed with a clean blanket wrapped around him. Hubert was nowhere to be seen, though he left a small paper on the nearby table.

_ ‘I have to go take care of some business. See you in the evening. Hubert.’ _

Ferdinand let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. 

And true to his words, Hubert was there when he returned that evening. 

Ferdinand jumped onto the man upon seeing him, causing both of them to freeze in place. He might not have understood the reason why he, a hero, was this ecstatic to see his sworn enemy, going so far as hugging the man. Despite the awkward situation, one thing Ferdinand was sure of, was that he felt a sense of relief washing over him when he saw Hubert there, waiting for him in that church. 

It was Hubert who broke the silence first, taking a small step back to regard Ferdinand with unreadable green eyes. Ferdinand tilted his head to look at the priest, mouth forming a straight line as he refused to be the first to talk, despite feeling like a helpless little insect vivisected under that gaze.

Eventually, Hubert laughed in that evil  _ and definitely not sexy _ voice as he cooed, “Little Ferdinand. Is that how you plan to defeat me? By seducing me with your charms?”

“No! Of course not, you crazy bastard!” Ferdinand retorted, face blushing hard.

“Because it’s working,” Hubert suddenly stated as Ferdinand’s breath hitched. Suddenly, Hubert stepped into his personal space, closing the distance between them. Ferdinand’s mind went blank when a gloved hand reached out to touch his cheek, caressing it gently. And to add to the torture, Hubert leaned in to whisper into his ear, causing him to almost let out a moan at their intimate position. 

“If I really was an evil priest like you said, little Ferdinand, I would steal you away and lock you up in a tower so that no one could see the cute face you’re making right now.”

Ferdinand felt like his body was on fire and his mind went offline. His heart beat so loudly in his chest that he was sure every living being within a few miles could hear it. As his scattered brain tried to find a way to break free from the man’s hold, Hubert struck again, his voice even more coaxing and seductive, “Would you like that, little Ferdinand? Would you want me to take you away?”

For unknown reasons, Ferdinand’s mouth almost formed a ‘Yes’, but the words that slipped out of his mouth instead were, “No! No way in hell!”

Hubert immediately let go, disentangling himself and backing away a few steps. Ferdinand felt the night chill creep into his body upon losing Hubert’s arms around him. After taking one look at the man’s expression and Ferdinand felt his heart shatter to pieces. 

Did this happen in all of those stories of chivalry as well? Was the villain supposed to look at the hero with such sorrow in his eyes whenever they faced each other? And did the hero feel his heart being ripped out by such a look, the way Ferdinand felt right now?

While Ferdinand was still searching for the right words to say to the older man, Hubert had already hidden his emotions and, without sparing a glance at Ferdinand, turned on his heel and went back inside the church. Ferdinand silently followed after him. Neither of them said anything to each other after that.

Hubert spent the night playing the same violin piece under the moonlight, while Ferdinand listened to him with a heavy heart until he dozed off in the pews. 

Ferdinand woke up in the same room wrapped in Hubert’s blanket, though Hubert was gone again.

\------------------------------

Ferdinand’s notes were quite abundant, given all the nights he spent with Hubert…no,  _ observed the man from a safe distance _ . Ferdinand arrived at the conclusion that Hubert was a member of a secret cult that opposed the Church of Seiros. Hell, the man didn’t even try to hide his disdain.

Now he finally had the proof he needed, or at least a portion of it, Ferdinand could pursue his justice and finally put an end to their unidentifiable relationship. However, that thought made his heart ache. Somehow, Ferdinand did not want their time to end, or else he would never see that sarcastic, Goddess-defiling, mysterious and charming man again. 

_ What’s gotten into me?  _

Ferdinand hit himself with his pillow and laid flat on his bed. He tried his best to calm his beating heart at the thought of the man, at the thought of his warm hands on his skin and of his hot breath in his ear.

_ Why can’t heroes and villains be friends? _

Ferdinand asked himself, doubting his beliefs for the first time in his life, before he closed his eyes and let sleep wash over him.

\---------------------------

_ “Hubert! What are you waiting for? Why don’t you just take him back by force?” a female voice chided on the other side of the fire. _

_ “I want him to come with me of his own accord, my lady.” the black-haired man replied calmly. _

_ “And if he won’t?” the voice continued harshly. _

_ “Then I will do as you say.” answered the man, frowning. _

_ “You had better.” With that said, the voice stopped.  _

_ The man let out a long sigh into the silent night. _

\----------------------------

“Hubert,” Ferdinand called out upon spotting the man sitting on one of the pews as he dismounted his horse.

“Little Ferdinand. This is a surprise. I have never seen you in armor before.” Hubert smirked and Ferdinand blushed as he felt the other’s gaze travel along his body. Their relationship had turned back to their usual cat and mouse game, of hero and villain. They both tried to smooth out the edges of the other night, or pretended to try anyways. Nonetheless, Ferdinand was quite pleased with their current situation. At least he wasn’t onHubert’s bad side anymore.

“Ah yeah, I am training to join the Knights of Seiros.” Ferdinand exclaimed cheerfully, though his smile faded as soon as he saw Hubert’s face drop. The parish hall suddenly became too chilly for his liking.

“I see. Good for you.” Hubert sneered as he returned his attention to the book in hands.

_ Well, so much for not getting on his bad side. _

“I...uh...I know about your distaste for the Church, but the Knights of Seiros fight to protect the citizens of Fódlan. At least, you could respect them for their hard work.” Ferdinand chided, one hand placed on his hips.

“Well, do excuse me if I don’t.” Hubert snapped as he closed his book and glared at Ferdinand, “I might have overestimated you, little Ferdinand. After all of the night-time discussions we’ve had, I thought that maybe you weren’t anything like those brainless imbeciles that choose to believe in fairytales and half-baked history books, that maybe you were worthy of my time but I guess I was mistaken.”

“I beg your pardon?” Ferdinand was yelling now, fist clenched tightly on his sword.

Hubert finally stood up and stalked towards him with an expression that was both livid and sorrowful at the same time, “I see you’ve brought your sword with you. Why don’t you just finish me off then? Oh, almighty Ferdinand. Isn’t that why you chose to get close to me? To find out if I am the evil priest like everyone says and to kill me to impress those hypocrites you so blindly believe in?”

“No...I…” Ferdinand backed away slowly, hands shaking.

With a long stride, Hubert lunged forward and grabbed his wrist. To Ferdinand’s horror, he raised the sword-holding hand to his own neck, to just above the collar where his skin was exposed.

“What are you doing? Are you insane?” Ferdinand screamed and frantically tried to yank his hand away. But it was all in vain - Hubert’s hold on his wrist was too strong. Were priests supposed to be this strong?

“What are you waiting for?” Hubert urged as he inched closer to the sharp blade, almost drawing blood.

“STOP!” Ferdinand used his other hand to pry open the fingers grabbing his wrist. As soon as his hand was free, he tossed the sword to the side, hitting the ground with a loud bang. 

Only Ferdinand’s breath could be heard in the decaying, dimly-lit parish hall after that.

“Ferdinand.” 

Ferdinand flinched, noticing the malice was gone from that voice, replaced by a more gentle, more soothing tone. He found himself folding his arms across his chest, mouth curved into pout, and refused to look at the older man. 

A gloved hand came closer and gently wiped away the tears he didn’t even realize were falling down his cheek, “I’m sorry. That was unseemly of me. I didn't mean to make you cry.”

“What did you do that for?” Still sulking, Ferdinand lifted his head a little to peek at the older man’s face, only to find his heart skip a beat with the softness in Hubert’s smile.

Hubert now had both of his hands cupping Ferdinand’s face. Ferdinand lost himself in the warmth of those hands, as one of Hubert’s fingers massaged gently along the line of his jaw, “I wasn’t angry at you. I was angry at myself, for bringing this tragedy upon us. I can’t blame you for believing in the Church since you don’t know better.”

“What are you talking about?” Ferdinand cocked his head to the side, brows knitted together. He felt a little offended by those words, but the way Hubert looked at him caused his anger to evaporate, as it was replaced by butterflies in his stomach. Ferdinand had to restrain himself from leaning into the older man’s palms.

“Tomorrow is your birthday, is it not?” Hubert asked out of nowhere. 

Ferdinand felt annoyed by the sudden change of subject. But thinking about it, Ferdinand realized he had been so taken with Hubert lately that he even forgot his own birthday. 

Slowly, he nodded his head and Hubert quickly let go of him. Ferdinand almost let out a disapproving groan when those hands withdrew to settle back on the book left lying on the pew.

“I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.” Hubert spared him one last smile before returning to his book. 

Somehow, Ferdinand found himself feeling jealous of a damn book for holding Hubert’s full attention like that.

\-----------------------------

Ferdinand stomped back to his manor in a sour mood. His mind was full of nothing but Hubert’s words still echoing in his ears, his insults about his decision, the truth he spoke about afterwards, and above all, the warmth that still lingered on his cheeks.

“Ferdinand!” A voice cut off his train of thought and stopped him half-way to his private quarters. Ferdinand turned around to see his mother waving at him.

“Ferdinand. Where have you been? I haven’t seen you around at dinner this past week?” his mother asked worriedly. Without waiting for his answer, she dragged him in the direction of the dining room, “Now, come have dinner with your mother.”

Ferdinand sighed and followed along, feeling rather hungry now.

“I have been so busy preparing your birthday party tomorrow, that I haven’t had the time to check up to my favorite son. So tell me, where have you been?” His mother inquired while he was devouring his steak.

Ferdinand sweated nervously - he couldn’t just tell his mother that he was investigating a suspicious priest who not only detested the Church and might also be a member of a cult, yet also possessed an unusual charm that made his heart race every time they met. 

Maybe he mindlessly said the last part out loud or maybe his mother could read minds, because her next question made him choke on his food, “Ferdinand, has someone caught your eye? Who is the lucky girl?”

Ferdinand drank a glass of water before he found his voice again, “Mother, you jest. He’s just a...friend. Since we had similar tastes in discussing the history of Fódlan, I just went to visit. Yes..visit...simply to visit. That’s all.”

“Is that so? Who is that new friend of yours?” his mother asked, curiosity in her voice.

“He is the new priest living in that abandoned church. His name is Hubert von Vestra…”

_ Clang _

The sound of breaking china interrupted him as Ferdinand whipped his head around to see his mother suddenly surging up in her seat, her face as white as a ghost, her lips shaking and her eyes wide open.

“Mother, what happened? Are you hurt?” Ferdinand asked worriedly, hurriedly making his way to her.

“Don’t go near that man again!” his mother yelled. Ferdinand stopped in his tracks and stared wordlessly at his mother.

“Why…”

“Just listen to me! I forbid you from going anywhere near that man again! Guards! Guards! Where are you?!!” 

She was screaming now, her unusual behavior making Ferdinand even more worried. Within seconds, the Aegir’s most elite guards came through the door and surrounded them.

“Captain! Lock Ferdinand in his room and don’t let him out until I say so.” His mother ordered the man in front, Captain Ravilli. The guards were upon him in seconds, seizing his hands and dragging him out of the dining hall back to his quarters in spite of his screaming and kicking. 

“Mother!!! What is the meaning of this? Mother!!” 

\-------------------------------

_ So you’ve finally come. You’ve finally come to steal him away from me! _

_ No, I won’t allow it, you vile creature. No one is taking my son away from me! _

\------------------------------

“Let me out! I need to talk to Mother.” Ferdinand had been yelling all night long and none of the guards listened to him. 

_ What is the meaning of this? Has Mother met Hubert before? Why is she locking me in here? And who’s the bastard that barricaded my windows? _

Ferdinand gave his door one last kick before stumbling back to the side of his bed. He dropped himself onto the cozy surface of his bed and heaved out a breath. 

“Hubert…” Ferdinand called, but only the overbearing darkness of his room answered him. Somehow, he wished that the man would appear in the next second. He was an evil priest, right? So teleportation into someone's house to haunt them at night should be a piece of cake for him.

Ferdinand’s eyelids felt heavy. He had been riding for hours, not to mention the fight with Hubert, the incident with Mother, and this confusing situation. Everything took a toll on him as he welcomed the darkness to take him away.

Ferdinand felt someone come into his room in the middle of the night. He hoped that it was Hubert, but no matter what he did, he couldn’t wake up from his slumber.

The next time he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the Aegir manor.

\--------------------------------

_ “There you are, you filthy creature!”  _

_ The doors to the abandoned church burst open, revealing several knights in their shining armor, each one marked with the same crests. _

_ “The Knights of Seiros?” the man in priest clothes stuttered in surprise, but quickly composed himself as soon as he saw the last figure arriving at the door, “I should have known, you ungrateful humans never keep your promises.” _

_ “Begone, vile creature. Leave my son alone.” The Aegir Duchess yelled and pointed her finger at the priest, “Good Sirs, please help me defeat this evil being and stop him from seducing my son.” _

_ “Leave it to us, Ma’am. The Knights of Seiros won’t allow such a lowly creature to harm the citizens of Holy Fódlan.” the knight in the front said proudly, three others behind him nodding their heads. They were all on their guard, ready to strike. _

_ “Where is Ferdinand?” the priest asked calmly. _

_ “A place where you can never lay your filthy hands on him again.” The duchess said with a victorious smirk. _

_ “You can’t mean…” the priest hissed out, black energy beginning to form around him, “We made a deal, you bloody wench!” _

_ “I made no deal with the likes of you! Good Sirs, please don’t listen to this creature’s blasphemy.” said the Duchess as she backed away to a safe distance. _

_ “Let us handle this. NOW!” The knight leader yelled and other knights followed him, charging forward. _

_ “You will regret this,” the priest said, gritting his teeth. He waved his hand and disappeared into thin air. _

**_II. Allegro moderato_ **

Five years later.

“Hey, von Aegir. Wanna hang out with us? We’re going to the marketplace for some fun.”

“By fun, you mean flirting with the girls there, isn’t it?” 

Ferdinand stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his friends, Sylvain, the heir of House Gautier, a redhead with a dandy attitude who loved to waste his training time to chase after the nuns, standing beside him was his childhood friend, Felix, heir of House Fraldarius. 

These two were inseparable, Ferdinand swore, even though all they did was fight, mostly about Sylvain's womanizer, but every time he saw them together, Ferdinand felt a throb in his heart. Their antagonistic yet secretly caring for each other relationship reminded him of certain someone, despite the short time they spent together, Ferdinand’s heart refused to let the man go. 

“I told you to call me Ferdinand and please I am of no mind to hang out right now.” Ferdinand walked toward them, as usual, he donned his best smile to the world and tried to suppress those feelings to the bottom of his heart, only relive them in the darkness of his room.

“Come on, man. I just want to lighten up your mood cause you look so stressed out about the ‘Trial Battle’ lately.” Sylvain grinned and patted his shoulder as soon as Ferdinand stood before him, “Just relax. You’ll do fine. You’re one of the best candidates of this year enrollment, Ferdinand, even Aloise said so. Just live long enough out there and once you get back to the Monastery, the Goddess will reward you with your own Relic and then you’re officially one of us.”

Sylvain and Felix were Ferdinand’s upper classmates, in fact, they were the same age as him but they already become Knight of Seiros last year. For some reasons, Archbishop Rhea thought it was necessary to indoctrinate him about the teaching of Seiros in his first year at the Academy, to the point he even recited the bible in his sleep. And falling behind his fellow schoolmates was not something Ferdinand von Aegir could accept, so he came begging the Archbishop to let him join the normal class one day, she agreed with a smile that sent chills down his spine. That was why Ferdinand was still stuck as being a ‘Candidate’. 

“It’s good to be a Knight, you know. The ladies will be all over you wherever you go, especially once they see your Relic. I carry mine everywhere. See, isn’t she beautiful? Unlike Felix’s...Ouch!” Sylvain grinned wolfishly, earning him a hard nudge in the stomach from Felix.

“Damn you. Stop showing off. Just because you have a nice-looking lance doesn’t mean you can rub it in my face every time.” Felix hissed, his Relic was a shield, a shiny shield, and he had been disgruntled about it ever since.

“Hey, Ferdinand. Do you ever wonder what you Relic will look like?” Sylvain asked, rubbing his stomach, “I never imagined mine’s a lance before the Ceremony. When it appeared before me, I was dumbstruck.”

Hero’s Relics were blessed by the Goddess when a new knight joined the organization, after years of training under the supervision of the Senior Knights and successfully passed the ‘Trial Battle’. Each knight had their own Relic which appeared before them once they went through the Ceremony, the purification of some sort, where they swore their oath to the Goddess and the Archbishop. After that, the knights would step into a circle and prayed. Once their prayers reached the Goddess, the Relics appeared, descending from the Heaven as Sylvain had put it. Relics were sacred weapons used to dispel evil. Long ago, they were used to decimate vampires but since vampires were already extinct out of the history of Follan, the Knight of Seiros used their Relics mostly to kill the Demotic Beasts nowadays.

“I do. A legendary sword that suits a noble like me of course.” Ferdinand clenched his fist in the air and laughed cheerfully. 

“That’s the Ferdinand I know.” Sylvain laughed along.

“Say, orange head.” Felix called him out in his nickname, “I heard you’d be going on this mission with the ‘Boar’, right?”

“You mean Captain Blaiddyd? Yes, He’ll be the Knight Supervisor in this mission.” Ferdinand arched an eyebrow at the way his friend’s called the strongest knight of Seiros.

“Of course, I talk about him. Who else has the strength of a boar in here?” Felix sneered, “Anyway, be careful with him, okay? That guy’s mind is pretty messed up. He doesn’t care about the safety of his underlings as long as he gets his hands dirty with blood. If you go with him, you’ll be on your own.”

“So the rumor about him is true?” Ferdinand asked, folding his arms across his chest. 

Captain Blaiddyd or Dimitri Alexander Blaiddyd, was the oldest Knight in the Monastery, not that he looked anywhere near his age, the man still had the same look as if he was 23 or 24. They said he was the last of the Werewolves who were annihilated by the vampires two hundred years ago. He and his retainer, Dedue, a lesser Werewolf, managed to escape the massacre and pleaded shelter with Archbishop Rhea, who took them under her protection. Then, Blaiddyd became one of her greatest assets in the Divine War upon the Vampires, fueled by his revenge for his clans. Ferdinand heard that the man was mentally unstable and brutal, he could crush a man’s skull with his bare hands due to the unique super strength only inherited by a member of the Royal Werewolf clan. Now the man’s only purpose to continue living was to investigate and dispute any rumor about vampires. Mostly those intelligence was made up stories by some folks in rural areas, or the Church might have silenced all the potential leaks since there were no actual records about the remaining vampires roaming the land of Follan. 

Captain Blaiddyd was rarely out of his quarters unless the Archbishop personally appointed him, and Ferdinand never had the chance to meet this infamous knight.

To think someone could live for so long and yet was utterly alone in this world with no brethren, no family and no one to love, except for his one and only friend, Dedue. He and the Archbishop shared the same fate of immortality. That was why Ferdinand still referred to live as a human, short-lived but all meaningful.

“Felix! Stop stressing out the poor guy. Don’t you see he already looks half-dead with all his insane training.” Sylvain scolded his friend.

“That’s fine, Sylvain. I do have to get back to training now. See you later.” Ferdinand bid them goodbye and turned back to the path leading to the training ground, laughing off the Gautier’s joke that he might work himself to death before the Demotic Beast did him tomorrow.

\-----------------------------

Ferdinand opened the door to his room hours later, sweaty and exhausted, and dropped his sword in a pile of worn-out weapons at the corner. He proceeded to take a long bath and maybe trimmed his eyebrows before bed. He made it a habit to maintain his noble look even in the heat of battles against his classmates or in practice, he was Ferdinand von Aegir after all.

Ferdinand looked at himself in the mirror hanging on the wall while heating up the water in the tub. Looking right back at him was no longer the 17 years old boy back then but a man in his twenties, short bright orange hair replaced by long curly manes spreading over his shoulders. He was at least 5 cm taller than 5 years ago, the lean muscle from his teenage years had grown into slightly buffer built, muscular but not too brawny. Ferdinand could proudly say he was the picture of perfection, a man desired by both men and women. But there was only one man he wanted to see him in this state. 

Hubert…

Ferdinand inhaled sharply and bit his lips to suppress another moan from letting out. The pain from five years ago was still fresh in his heart, along with it was his ever-growing longing. For five years he was left in the dark about what happened on his 18th birthday. 

All he could remember was the face of the Archbishop upon opening his eyes…

\-------------------------------

_“You’re awake, child?”_

_Ferdinand rubbed his eyes and sat up, trying to take a better look at the woman standing in his peripheral vision._

_“How are you feeling?” The woman asked again, gentler this time._

_“I...I’m fine.” Ferdinand let out a gasp once he had a clear look at her, light green long hair and eyes, beautiful beyond words, the woman was not a mere noblewoman or maybe even human, she looked as if she was the embodiment of the Goddess._

_That was when Ferdinand noticed he was not in his private quarters nor any other room in the Aegir manor. This room was smaller than his master bedroom and much more simple, there was only one desk in the far side wall, which to him, only about two long strides, and the bed he was sitting on._

_“Where am I?” Ferdinand asked, trying to recall what happened before he fell asleep._

_His Mother’s anger, him being locked inside his room and Hubert…_

_“Hubert!” Ferdinand surged up from the bed and dashed toward the door._

_“Give it up, child. You’re no longer on von Aegir land. You’re safe here. That man won’t be able to hurt you anymore.”_

_Ferdinand froze dead at the door while her words started to sink in._

_Hubert was not a bad man, even if his view of life was a little...twisted and he might be secretly working for a cult but overall, Hubert never hurt him and Ferdinand refused to think that the tenderness in that voice and the warmth from those gloved hands were all but a lie._

_“Where Am I?” Ferdinand asked again, politeness had gone from his voice._

_“You’re in Garreg Mach Monastery and my name is Rhea. Per the urgent request of the Aegir Duchess, you are to live here under the protection of the Goddess, far away from the grasp of that wicked priest. Do not worry, child. You will never have to see that man again.”_

\---------------------------------

Ferdinand let out a long sigh at the memory and sank further in the bathtub, letting the water washed away all his tiredness and weary from the day. 

It had been five years. He hadn’t heard from Hubert ever since and he couldn’t do a thing about it, not when he was forbidden to leave the Monastery on his own nor he wanted to meet Hubert with a Knight tagging along who, he bet, would exterminate the priest right at first sight.

His servants at the Aegir manor told him that the priest left on the day of his birthday. And no matter how much he pried or begged whenever his mother came to visit, she only gave him as much as a kiss on his cheek and left without saying anything.

Ferdinand tried to write to Hubert, once or twice, but his letters were returned to him due to lack of address and a valid recipient. 

Ferdinand did force himself to believe what the Archbishop told him about Hubert, imagining him as an evil priest sneaking in the dark to steal the souls of young boys (?) but the moment his mind came across soft lime green eyes, thin lips and long fingers stroking his jaws, all his doubts vanished and replaced by a heat down his groin. 

Ferdinand felt utterly embarrassed at first but those fragments of memories started to involve into more intimate images - smooth voice whispering his name, gloved fingers caressing his jaws started to travel down to his nipples, his belly and then stopping at his hard member, thin lips capturing his own for a long and heated kiss…

“Good gracious!” Ferdinand bit his lips as he felt his cock stiffened at those thoughts and quickly worked himself off. 

Maybe, Ferdinand thought as he landed on his soft bed and slowly slipped into sleep, he was already taken by the Devil long ago.

\-----------------------------

_“Dimitri, you come.”_

_“Rhea, what is the meaning of this mission?”_

_“You know when you see the boy. Just remember to remain calm. Don’t let him suspect anything. This boy is the key to seek what we both desire.”_

_“I understand. You know I’ll do anything to find that blasted woman.”_

_“I can always count on you, my dearest friend. Now let’s lure the rats out.”_

\--------------------------------

Ferdinand opened his eyes when the sky was still dark and the sun was just a semicircle on the horizon. Today was the day of his ‘Trial Battle’. 

Ferdinand should feel exhilarated for this was the fruit of all his diligent training for the last five years, this was what he wanted to be since he was a child, his dream, his passion, but instead, what made his heart beat loudly in his chest was the fact that this would be the first time he was allowed to step foot outside of the Monastery. 

And that thought caused a smile to spread on his lips. Going out meant that he might have a chance to find that charming...no, blasted evil priest and wring the truth out of him. 

_Hubert, just you wait!_

\----------------------------

By the time Ferdinand put on his armor and led his horse out of the stable and finally made his way to the courtyard, a tall figure was already waiting for him there with his back turned against him. Ferdinand recognized the crest on his ankle-long blue cloak, the Werewolf clan’s unique crest of Blaiddyd and the huge lance he was holding, Areadbhar.

That must be Dimitri Blaiddyd, but where’s his loyal retainer? Ferdinand thought as he walked closer, “Good morning. You must be Captain Blaiddyd. My name is Ferdinand von Aegir. A pleasure to finally meet you.”

As the man turned around, revealing a handsome face under the messy blond locks, an eyepatch covered his right eye, the other clear blue eye, flickered with astonishment upon seeing Ferdinand.

“You!” Blaiddyd gritted his teeth, brows knitting together to form a rather ugly expression. For a moment, Ferdinand thought that the hostility and resentment he saw in that blue eye was his imagination, the reflection of the too-bright sun because in a blink of an eye later, Blaiddyd’s expression suddenly turned back to normal as he greeted him back, short and blunt, “Good to see you too. Now let’s be on our way..”

Guess there was only he and the captain then.

Ferdinand nodded and dutifully followed the captain out of the Monastery as they hopped on their steeds and rode out into the new dawn, he reluctantly brushed off the incident a moment ago as the man’s unstable mentality acting up.

\------------------------------

Ferdinand was well aware that Follan was enormous, but now that he actually got to see it with his own two eyes, he felt at awe by the contrast reality in comparison with what they trivialized in books. Well, the first time he traveled across Follan, Ferdinand was unconscious after being knocked out by the Knights in his own room and wasted all the sightseeing inside a carriage, so no one could blame him for being extravagant. 

It took them nearly two days to reach their destination, in which Ferdinand was sure that any Demotic Beast they were out hunting should have appeared already. But at the end of the second dreadful long day traveling on horseback, Blaiddyd finally told him that their quest was not to hunt Demotic Beasts but to track down a dark mage in Enbarr.

Ferdinand felt both livid at the captain’s taciturnity, and exhilarated that his first battle was not to fight some deformed monsters but to defeat a worthy opponent. 

Dark magic were banned from the Church after the Fall of the Imperial. The Empire prided themselves in practicing those dark arts that they even considered dark mage a common title along with bishop and warlock. In many records about the Exalted March, the Knight of Seiros had a hard time penetrating the Empire’s defense mechanism to invade the capital since the city’s perimeter were protected by a powerful dark spell that sucked the blood out of anyone who dared to come within five feet of it. Long story short, the Knight finally managed to get in by some unknown methods and annihilated the Empire royal family and freed humankind from over a century of slavery. 

Nowadays though, people with some sense in their head would not voluntarily learn dark magic unless they wished for a premature death or spending the rest of their time in holy prison.

Now knowing that he had a chance to face one of these deranged criminals, and not to mention Enbarr, the lost capital city of the Empire, the very name of it filled him up with zeal.

But the thought that that dark mage could be Hubert suddenly sucked all the excitement out of him and left him with a hole in his stomach.

Ferdinand shook the silly notion out of his head and proceeded to lie down on his side of the small camp. As he closed his eyes and readied for sleep to take him, he felt Blaiddyd’s gaze on his back darken, oozing with hatred and repugnance. 

\---------------------------------

Once the Capital city of Enbarr was within sight, they set their horses free and Blaiddyd suggested they split up, which Ferdinand was too happy to comply since he couldn’t endure another day in Blaiddyd’s company without fearing the man would bite his head off, literally. 

The captain’s hostility toward him turned out to be true, he had caught those hateful glare more often the closer they got to Enbarr. Ferdinand had spent the rest of their journey wondering what made the captain detest him so much and came to the conclusion that Blaiddyd must be jealous of his talent and good looks, well that was understandable since the man looked like he hadn’t bathed for months.

Before Blaiddyd took off, he bought two black cloaks at the nearby vendor and threw one of them in Ferdinand’s face, telling him to disguise himself and especially to cover his hair. 

Ferdinand fought the urge to stick his tongue out at the captain but thought better about it and reluctantly did what he was told. The cloak was lengthy enough to cover his tall body and he was glad that it didn’t smell too weird. Ferdinand gathered his hair neatly into a knot and slipped them under the cloak and then covered his face with the hood. Once done, he started striding toward the gate of the Fallen capital.

A sense of nostalgia suddenly rushed through him as he observed the busy marketplace before him. 

One would think the Fallen capital was nothing but debris and lost souls roaming the empty streets but the contrary was, the city was blooming with life, human life to be specifically. There was no trace of war could be seen in the faces of its citizens, no one mourned for the fallen vampires decaying under their feet hundreds years ago or minded the dried blood still visible on the walls. They hang the banners of the Church of Seiros at the doors, in the city hall, everywhere, children playing in the street while singing the hymns, nuns and bishops leisurely walking among other citizens.

This city was no longer a capital of the vampire but now a one in many cities under the protection of the Church, a city ruled by humans.

That realization dawned Ferdinand, making his heart clenched painfully in his chest, even though he didn’t know the reason why a human like him could feel sentimental for the lost vampires, like they were his brethren not the other way around.

Ferdinand laughed it off as the exhaustion of a long journey taking its toll on him and made his way to the market.

Now, where should he start?

The teaching of Seiros didn’t particularly have any conduct in espionage or any kind of subterfuge and definitely not how to look for an evil mage in a city flooded with people. So Ferdinand just had to depend on his knowledge about villains in storybooks and wandered around the areas that he thought criminals liked to hang out, like the pub, the slum and the…

As Ferdinand turned into one of the city's many dark alleys, he suddenly felt gloved hands wrapped around him from behind, one of them pressing on his mouth to prevent him from yelling. Before Ferdinand could unsheathe his sword on his hips and attacked the ambusher, the man behind him spoke in a low whisper that caused Ferdinand’s heart to skip a beat.

That was the very voice that followed him into his sleep and haunted his every dream, “That is not how we disguise, little Ferdinand. I can spot you from miles away.”

  
  


**_III. Andante_ **

“Hubert!” 

Ferdinand immediately whipped his head around, fists clenched, readying himself to punch the blasted man in his face or at least scream at him for disappearing without a word, for leaving him in the Church for five years and for...whatever the pain inside his heart. But on gaze at that face, still handsome with sharp cheekbones, golden eyes under dark hair and a pair of thin lips that begged to be kissed, all thoughts left him as Ferdinand could do nothing but stare at Hubert, hungrily took in the features of the man he yearned for so long.

“Hubert, is it really you?” Ferdinand’s voice shaken as he reached out his hands to cup Hubert’s face, one hand rubbed the pale cheek gently before tracing his fingers along Hubert’s pointed nose and the other swept away the long bang hanging over the man’s right eye. 

Gosh, how much he missed this insufferable man!

Then Ferdinand’s gaze stopped at Hubert’s pale lips.

Now that Ferdinand had grown taller over the last five years, he didn’t have to tiptoe to stare eye-to eye with Hubert anymore, to which Ferdinand enjoyed greatly, only a little dip of his head and their lips would touch... 

Hubert had his gaze glued on Ferdinand’s face as well, his breath hitched. Gloved hands were instantly on him, sliding into his long manes, playing with his locks, twirling them around long fingers and Ferdinand almost let out a moan at that.

“I guess not ‘little’ anymore. You grow out your hair.” Hubert whispered tenderly, eyes softened into warm pools.

Of all the situations Ferdinand imagined about their reunion, most of which involved lots of yelling and kicking, and one scenario almost had them kissing, but he never pictured the first words Hubert said to him after five years was to comment on his hair.

“Ah yes...I just don’t have time to cut it.” Ferdinand mumbled, that was a lie, the real reason he grew his hair was because he wanted to know how it felt to have Hubert’s long fingers fidgeting on his hair. Just like now and he liked it. 

“You look even more...appalling than the last time I saw you.” Hubert commended, his gloved finger accidentally brushed along his cheek and Ferdinand’s heart almost jumped out of his chest at that.

This dastard did know how to play with his feelings and Ferdinand definitely should not feel this weak in the knees, bare and vulnerable in front of a criminal in a back alley when he was on a mission to search for….

“Wait, Hubert. That’s not the point. What are you doing…?” His words were cut off by a finger gently placed on his lips.

“As much as I love for this little reunion to continue, but we’re out of time. Come with me, Ferdinand.” Hubert’s expression changed back to neutral as he wrapped one arm around Ferdinand’s waist and pulled him close, to which Ferdinand blushed feverishly, the other raised in the air and within seconds, a wave of black and purple energy appeared in his palm.

Before Ferdinand could figure out what Hubert intended to do, a baritone echoed behind him, making him shiver with the intense animosity in it, “There you are, you filthy monster. I found you at last.”

Ferdinand turned to the source of the voice and saw Blaiddyd at the other side of the alley, Relic already in hand. 

He finally realized why they call him the One-eyed Demon because his expression while looking at the two of them was that of a bloodthirsty beast, void of any emotion. His eyes glowed blue, and, to Ferdinand’s astonishment, his black gloves started to tear apart as his hands grow ever larger to the size twice as big as a normal person, a coat of fur spreading out to cover his arms and adding to the whole ensemble, his nails turned longer and sharpened into claws.

Ferdinand only read about Werewolf in books but to see the transformation first hand left him at awe. 

Upon seeing Blaiddyd turned, Hubert quickly removed his hand around him and pushed Ferdinand backward to stand behind him, shoulders tensed. 

It took him a moment to finally catch up with the situation and Ferdinand did the first thing that came to his mind, moving in front of Hubert and yelled at the captain, “Wait, Captain Blaiddyd. Hubert’s not the mage we’re looking for!”

“Ferdinand!” Ferdinand heard Huber hissed beside him.

Blaiddyd let out a maddening laugh and pointed his lance at them, “He’s exactly the one. Hubert von Vestra, the loyal lapdog. Rhea was right. You will come for von Aegir. Now tell me where that vile woman is, dog!!”

With that said, the captain lunged forward them in full force.

“Ferdinand!” Hubert shouted and shoved him out of the way, he heard the sound of spells flinging at Blaiddyd’s direction.

Ferdinand quickly balanced himself and withdrew his sword as fast as he could and in the next moment, he was in between the Werewolf and Hubert to parry a vicious attack.

“Captain! Please calm down. Hubert is not a bad man!” Ferdinand yelled but his words only made the blond-haired man angrier. Blaiddyd swung his lance in the air and Ferdinand’s sword flew out of his hand, the next thing he knew, he was landed in a warm lap, strong arms wrapped around him as a puff of dark energy suddenly aimed at the captain, making him jumping a few distance back.

“Hubert!” Ferdinand looked up to see Hubert gritting his teeth, frowning deeply but still refused to let him go.

“Hahahaha. He’s not a bad man? Look again, von Aegir. Look carefully who he really is.” Blaiddyd laughed hysterically, eyes opened wide like he had lost his mind, “Come on. Show yourself, you bloodsucker.”

Bloodsucker?

Ferdinand felt the hands around him loosen as he stepped a step back to stare at Hubert, just in time to see two of his teeth grow longer than the rest, becoming two sharp fangs.

Vampire? Hubert is a Vampire?!

That was when Ferdinand finally notice Hubert was not wearing his priest gown but a black coat with long cape toppled over it. 

Before his mind could function again, Blaiddyd already answered his question, “See. He’s a vampire. The last of the vampires that is, escaping along with the Emperor and her pathetic underlings, hiding like rats for hundreds of years. I’ve been hunting them, to kill every last one of them. Now only him and his wicked fiends left. Dog, just tell me where your master is and I’ll help put you out of your misery.”

“In your dream, zealot.” Hubert snarled viciously and Ferdinand flinched, causing Hubert to look back at him. The emotion in those golden eyes made Ferdinand’s stomach drop, like he was waiting for his reaction. Ferdinand didn’t even know what he should react. Should he run away from Hubert to the captain side and watch him kill Hubert…

No!

Even if Hubert was a vampire, Ferdinand wouldn’t…

And once again, Ferdinand’s body moved on its own volition as he stood in front of a surprised Hubert and opened his arms wide, “Even if he is, Hubert haven’t hurt anyone yet so please…”

The Captain barked out a laugh again, louder this time, “HAHAHA, von Vestra, I don’t know how you did it. But he sure looks like the real one. Rhea wanted to give him a chance to redeem himself but I guess I’ll have no choice but to slaughter him again like I did two hundred years ago. Prepare to die, von Aegir!”

“What are you talking about?” Ferdinand asked, utterly confused by Blaiddyd’s words.

But his thought was cut off again when Hubert pulled in close and whispered to his ear, “Ferdinand, Do you trust me?”

Ferdinand didn’t have to think twice, “Yes.”

“Hold tight!” Hubert ordered and Ferdinand did just that, fastening his arms around the taller man’s waist as Hubert chanted his incantation.

Everything happened next was too fast for his eyes to see. One moment Ferdinand saw Blaiddyd sprung toward them again and in the next he heard Hubert let out a painful cry before the black energy earlier engulfed them completely.

\------------------------------

Ferdinand would be lying if he said he didn’t scare of magic, who wouldn’t when that sort of energy could kill you in the blink of an eye, channeling through your body and mess up your organs until suddenly you felt life slowly slipped out of you. So when Ferdinand was being warped away, as Hubert explained later, by Hubert’s dark magic, for a moment he thought he was dead. He felt disoriented and dizzy, like being pulled from all directions and suddenly robbed of all air from his lungs. It was the most painful experience Ferdinand had ever lived through, even worse than the last time he was badly injured in practice. But the warm and strong arms around his waist and the hot breath above the crown of his hair helped calm him immensely. Ferdinand felt safe, right here in the unknown distortion of time and space, as long as Hubert was with him.

\----------------------------------

The swirling stopped as abruptly as it came, lasting only a few minutes but it felt like a century to him. Once his feet touched on the hard ground again, inside a forest, Ferdinand felt the arms around him loosen as Hubert suddenly let out a whimper and stumbled to fall.

"Hubert!" Ferdinand immediately had his arms around the taller man to steady him, "What happened..."

And his eyes widened in shock, mouth agape as his hand touched a wet area, his heart ached to see the red liquid oozing out of a wound on Hubert's hips.

"You're bleeding." Ferdinand cried out but Hubert shut him off. "Ferdinand, take off your armor right now!" 

"What?!" He wanted to object but the urgent in Hubert's voice silenced any words about to come out of his mouth as he did as he was told obediently. 

Once Ferdinand removed the last of his armor, down to his underwear and breeches, Hubert quickly set them on fire, "There, that takes care of the tracking sigil. Now hold onto me. We need to warp one more time."

And Ferdinand was all too happy to be pulled into those warm arms as they disappeared into the void again.

\--------------------------------

The next time they came out of the warp, the scenery changed, they were now standing in front of an empty area that surrounded by nothing but trees and more trees.

"We're here." Hubert said, panting hard, Ferdinand quickly helped him to lean on him for support, "Welcome to our secret hideout."

With that said, Hubert touched a certain spot in the air and it glowed with a red magic circle, a few seconds later, a voice suddenly echoed from the other side of the sigil, "Hubert, is that you?"

"Yes, Bernadetta. Open the gate, quickly, and bring Linhardt along." Hubert answered, in a whisper between panting but despite that, he still held on tight to Ferdinand.

Hubert guided him toward the invisible gate (?) and Ferdinand was ready for some kind of impact but all he felt was a strange energy flushing through him, like they just stepped into a barrier of some sort.

Ferdinand assumed his face must look utterly dumbstruck at the moment because as soon as they were inside, Hubert explained to him with a small smile, "It's a ward, a defense spell to hide us from the outside world." 

"I see. Um, Where are we?" Ferdinand finally managed to tear his gaze away from that smile to observe the...um...mansion in front of him. The empty space that they were standing just a moment ago had suddenly transformed into a sidewalk of an ancient mansion, enclosed by fencing and surrounded by a neatly cut hedge, the area Hubert just touched in the air turned out to be the surface of a giant gate. The mansion looked rather old but well-kept, its brown coating paint was still in touch. Windows all had red curtains hanging on both sides but they were not drawn nor lit, giving off a feeling of mysterious and rather deathly about the place. Ferdinand noticed an architecture that appeared everywhere on the mansion, the carve-in on the wall above the entrance door, the sculpture in the middle of the courtyard, also on the banner hanging down from the tower, they all have the symbol of the two-headed eagle on it.

Two-Headed Eagle? The Symbol of the Imperial Royal family.

His thought was cut off by several figures rushing toward them. 

Ferdinand noticed a rather short girl with purple hair, a slim man with green locks and another girl, much taller, with long curly brown hair. This was the first time Ferdinand see them but somehow he felt like he had known these people for all his life, just like the first time he saw Hubert in that abandoned church. 

One of the girls screamed, "Hubert!" upon seeing the two of them and the other girl, the tall one, flinched as her gaze landed on Ferdinand, he noticed how her eyes went wide like she just saw a ghost, "Ferdie..."

Her words caught the attention of the others and now Ferdinand had three vampires staring at him with mouth opened wide, the purple-haired girl looked like she was about to cry and the brunette girl seemed like she had to hold herself not to come forward and hugged him.

But Hubert's soft whimper beside him dragged him out of his stupor as he yelled at the three newcomers, "Would you mind not standing there and stare at me like I have two heads. Hubert's injured in the fight with captain...no, Blaiddyd. He needs medical attention immediately. "

"Right." The green-haired man was the first one to react as he quickly came checking on Hubert's wound, Ferdinand swore he could hear the vampire whispered under his breath, possibly at him, "Still as demanding as ever."

Ferdinand was about to retort to that if not for the vampire's expression suddenly turned grim, "His wound is more serious than I thought. Quick, let's move him to the infirmary and I will need your help too, Dorothea."

Ferdinand's heart sank at that, he didn't even care who was Dorothea was out of the three of them. Under the scrutinized eyes of the vampires, Ferdinand quickly had one of his arms around Hubert's thighs and the other on his back, he then lifted the mage up to the air, surprisingly found Hubert was lighter than he appeared to be. Not wasting any seconds, he yelled at the three vampires, "Tell me where the infirmary is."

\-----------------------------

Once they arrived at the infirmary, a rather large room on the west wings of the mansion, Ferdinand put Hubert on the only bed in the middle of the room. 

If his attention was not too focused on the black-haired man, who looked even paler than he already was, Ferdinand would notice there were countless pouches of blood stacked on the shelves.

"Hubert, can you hear me?" Ferdinand yelled at the older man, his voice shaken, and hands gently caressed Hubert's hair to brush the stray locks out of the way, "I won't have you die on me like this. You still owe me whatever the truth you want to tell me five years ago, you damn vampire."

Hubert chuckled weakly and placed his hand over Ferdinand's and murmured, the words that melted Ferdinand into a puddle, "Of course. I won't let you suffer the same fate as I did, darling."

Ferdinand felt tears swelling at the corner of his eyes. This was not fair, Hubert could do this to him, he couldn't say those words in that affectionate voice without expecting Ferdinand not to fall for him.

Fall for him...

Ferdinand felt like he was being struck by lightning, by a realization of the true depth of his feelings for Hubert, of why he couldn't let Hubert go after so many years.

Ferdinand had dated a few men and women in his academy years, out of curiosity and sometimes he was just lonely, but none of them made him swoon the way Hubert did. All his dates ended with him politely refused to hang out a second time with them. He hadn't kissed any of them for Saint's sake, not that he never tried but when it happened, Ferdinand’s mind went “They’re not Hubert” and his body moved like it had a mind of its own, it automatically avoided their eye contracts and made up a lame excuse to run away from the situation.

He knew it was presumptuous for a true noble like him to run away, but the mere thought that Hubert might find him...impure by other’s touch, imperfect to be worthy of his time and undeserving to have his attention pained him more than the hurtful looks in his dates’ eyes.

And at long last, he finally met the man again but Ferdinand couldn't find it in his heart to be happy now that Hubert was injured because of him. 

Ferdinand was fully aware of the situation he was in, betraying the very force that shaped Follan to be with a refugee, and a vampire at that, but he also knew that whatever the truth Hubert was hiding from him would determine his fate. For all it was worth, Ferdinand trusted Hubert more than a Church that sent him to go on a mission with a mad man.

Ferdinand must be too deep in his thought because the moment he came to his senses, he was sitting in the waiting room outside of the infirmary alone with no memory of how he got there, one of the vampires must drag him out here by force. 

While he was moping on his seat, the purple-haired girl, who Ferdinand thought her name was Bernadetta, reappeared in his peripheral vision with a stack of clothes in her hands, shyly she handed them to him, “Here, Fer...Mr. Stranger who I never met before, please change into these or you’ll catch a cold. Hubert may not like that…ah...he’s scary when he’s angry! So please just go change!”

“Ah, thank you. Bernadetta, right?” Ferdinand accepted it with a small smile and the girl beamed at him for guessing her name correctly. He indeed was getting cold, this room had no fireplace and only lit by two candlelight on the wall.

Good God, did vampires ever feel cold? From the look of it, probably not.

But still, he couldn’t just leave Hubert’s side…

“Don’t worry.” Bernadetta said, smiling reassuringly like she just read his thoughts, “Linhardt is the best bishop we have. Hubert will be fine. Death should fear him not the other way around.”

Well said, Ferdinand silently agreed with the girl and quickly excused himself into the dressing room at the far side of the hall, and why he even knew it was here was beyond his understanding.

The clothes Bernadetta gave him fitted nicely like they were tailor-made for him. Ferdinand admired himself in the floored-length mirror on the wall, he liked the way the high-collared crimson-colored overcoat with yellow designs on the black lapel hugged his well-built body, to go with it was a red cravat that he knotted into a neat ascot tie and finalized with a stylish pin. 

Ferdinand was quite pleased with the outfit, it went well with his bright orange hair and amber eyes, better than the black attire of the Church required every student to wear until they graduated. For some reason, the outfit made him look like a vampire himself.

Once he made it back into the waiting room, three more newcomers were already there, waiting along with Bernadetta. One of them had long silver hair that tied up into two buns and secured by two dragon horns, her eyes were a shade of purple that suddenly went wide upon seeing Ferdinand stomping into the room, she must be the leader of them, Hubert’s master, by her red armor and the aura of authority she radiated. The second vampire had plump hair that she braided on one side of her head, her skin was darker than the rest of them, Ferdinand heard her mouthed something under her breath, his name maybe. And the last of them, a young man with a light blue head, startled him with an earth-shattering scream as soon as he spotted Ferdinand, “HOLY SHIT! YOU DO LOOK LIKE HIM...”

“Caspar!” And immediately the leader vampire smacked her hand over the loud vampire’s mouth and whispered something in his ear that Ferdinand guessed was a threat to shut him up.

It must be his luck that within one day, Ferdinand had a chance to cross paths with a werewolf and seven vampires. 

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t probably introduced himself to them yet due to the fuss over Hubert’s wound, so he donned his best smile for them, “I am terribly sorry for my imprudent earlier. My name is Ferdinand von Aegir. Please to make your acquaintances.”

“Yes, Ferdie. We know who you are.” The plump-haired vampire nodded her head and replied with a warm smile. 

"Ferdie?" For a moment, Ferdinand thought they were old friends greeting each other not some mere strangers meeting for the first time.

“Halt, Petra!” The silver-haired girl interfered, “He doesn’t know anything yet. Best let Hubert explain it to him when he’s awake.”

“I am sorry for my ignorance, Edelgard. I will keep my mouth shut from now.” The vampire girl, Petra, apologized with a dip of her head.

“What are you talking about?” Ferdinand tilted his head, the way they treated him started to tick him off. He was not a child for Saint sake!

The silver hair vampire, Edelgard, stared at him, gaze stern and full of sovereignty, those were the eyes of a supreme ruler, someone who would change the world for the better. Ferdinand finally understood why Hubert was so obsessed with his loyalty to her and in some unknown senses, it seemed like he too, once swore loyalty to this very woman.

Before Edelgard could scold him, for whatever reason that was, the door to the infirmary flung open and the other two vampires reappeared in their sight. Ferdinand quickly threw his doubts to the bottom of his mind and strode toward them, voice demanding, “How’s Hubert?” 

“We healed him as best as he could. Usually, the wound from the Relic is hard to treat but luckily this is just deeper than a scratch, a little bit more and it would damage his major organs. He won’t survive that, even if he’s a vampire.” The green-haired vampire, Linhardt, replied in a monotone voice, “He’s resting now, loss of blood, I guess.”

Ferdinand blurted out without thinking, “Does he need blood? I can let him drink mine…” 

He faltered instantly when twelve pairs of eyes turned to look at him all at once, in a way like the nobles always regarded someone who just broke a social etiquette, their gaze made him felt like a child who just did something wrong.

“No, silly!” The brunette girl, Dorothea he guessed, giggled, her eyes twinkle with mischief, “We vampires rarely drink human’s blood and we don’t drink each other’s either. Unless we’re lovers.”

“What!” Ferdinand exclaimed, face flaring hot.

“I think that’s enough pestering him for one day, dear.” Edelgard cleared her throat and it took Ferdinand a moment to realize she was talking to Dorothea, who was now hiding her gigglings in her hands. 

Ferdinand felt like a burden that he had carried for the last five years suddenly lifted off him with this discovery. 

If Edelgard and Dorothea were lovers, does that mean Hubert…

“Hey, Ferdinand.” The loud voice from the sky blue haired vampire, Caspar, cut him off from his thought, “You look deadbeat, man. Want us to show you to your room?”

“No, thank you for your kindness but I think I’d rather stay here with Hubert.” Ferdinand politely declined the offer and turned on his heels, ignoring the vampires’ nerve-setting stares, he proceeded to open the door to the infirmary and slipped inside.

\--------------------------------

 _“How can it be? I almost had a heart attack when I saw him. That is our Ferdie for sure. That look and attitude and the clothes, Eddie! They’re technically_ his _clothes.” In another hall, at another wing of the mansion, the brunette vampire exclaimed to her lover._

_“Yes, I saw it too, Thea. I was there with you.” The other vampire sighed at her lover’s over-enthusiasm._

_“I thought Hubert had lost his mind back then...when he suggested_ that _.” The brunette continued, biting her nails, “No wonder why he seems...delightful for the last two decades and when he finally told us, we all laughed at him.”_

_“I can’t blame you. Even I cannot stop him, once he had already set his mind into.” The silver-haired vampire sighed._

_“How long have you known about this, Eddie?” The brunette asked._

_“From the start.” The other vampire said, shaking her head, “In fact, I was the one who encouraged him in the first place. I just can't bear to see him so...broken. But to think he actually put us at risk like that, almost revealing our hiding place, was beyond my expectation.”_

_“Well, I’d say their stubbornness is why they’re made for each other.” The brunette sighed._

_“That bit is true. Let’s hope they finally have the happiness they deserve.” Said the silver-haired vampire as the two of them disappeared into their private quarters._

\----------------------------------

Ferdinand woke up to a hand stroking his hair, to fingers caressing his cheek, to the smell of Hubert, to Hubert...

Hubert!

Ferdinand snapped his eyes open and surged up from his seat. Greeting him was a pair of lime green eyes staring loving at him and Hubert’s usual tug of his mouth. Hubert had propelled himself up, head resting on a white pillow behind his back. Ferdinand heaved out a relieved sigh to see color had returned to his pale cheeks and the bags under Hubert’s eyes had faded after a good night's sleep, that would mean his injury was not a threat anymore. 

“What a carefree knight you make, Ferdinand. Sleeping so peacefully on the bedside of your sworn enemy. Don’t you scared I’ll suck on your blood while you sleep?” Like usual, Hubert greeted him with his snarky lines and empty threats.

“You won’t.” Ferdinand replied at the same time he caught that wandering hand to raise it to his face and place kisses the white knuckles, Hubert’s hands were bare and full of scars, his gloves must be taken out along his other blood-taint clothes, “You had plenty of chances to do so back then but you never did.”

“Such confident you are.” Hubert chuckled lightheartedly, his back of bare fingers traced across Ferdinand’s cheek and Ferdinand leaned in closer to his touch, enjoying the callus of that hand on his skin, “Has it ever cross your mind that I lure you here to make you my ‘food bank’ as per your saying?”

“Hubert!” Ferdinand frowned, his stomach dropped at those words, but once he noticed the teasing glint in those eyes and how the finger on his cheek had traveled down to his lips and just hovered there, Ferdinand had the urge to bite down on that finger, “You leech! If that’s the case then you’re the stupidest vampire to risk your life to save a ‘food bank’.”

“That small wound was nothing compared to what I’ve endured for the last two hundred years,” Hubert said solemnly and Ferdinand cocked his head to a side, wondering how that related to their conversation.

“Say, Ferdie...Ferdinand,” Hubert quickly corrected himself, “Where did you get that outfit?”

Ferdinand cocked his head to a side, curious about the name Hubert and the vampire kept calling him, “Your friend, Bernadetta gave them to me to change into.”

“I see.” A long pause, Hubert silently observed him before mumbling under his breath, “It suits you well.”

\-----------------------------

A month ago if someone told Ferdinand that he would share a meal with vampires, he probably laughed it off as some kind of lame jest, but now, sitting on the table with seven living, breathing vampires and even having dinner with them, Ferdinand felt like his life at the Monastery was nothing but a distant dream, a life he might never be able to get back. But Ferdinand never found an ounce of regret over his decision, a little sad that he might never see his friends again.

“Uh, Ferdinand…” Dorothea’s voice pulled him out of his trance as he whipped his head around the table to see all the vampires were looking at him, Hubert included.

“Yes, can I help you with something?” He asked nervously, having that many vampires looking at him, especially at dinner, made his imagination go wild with possible theories of what they wanted to do to him since he was the only human within the room.

“Can you pass the salt, my dear?” Dorothea winked at him playfully.

“Ah...Oh, sure.” Ferdinand breathed out a little and passed her the salt, she was sitting on the other side of the table, next to Hubert. Hubert was sitting on the exact opposite of him, on the left side of Edelgard and he was at her right. It must be his deja vu because this seating arrangement seemed strangely familiar to him, in fact, everything about the vampires seemed familiar to him and it bugged him off ever since

“Do you not find the food enjoyable, Ferdinand?” Edelgard asked, sitting on the host seat.

“No. It’s just that I find it fascinating that you vampires can eat normal food.” Ferdinand commended as he looked down at his plate, sautéed pheasant and eggs, “And it’s also my favorite dish. How did you know it’s my favorite?”

Ferdinand suddenly felt an eerie atmosphere filling the air as some of the vampires shifted uncomfortably in their chairs, their reaction got him curious as he quickly spared a glance at Hubert for some explanation and found the man’s lips curved into a smirk, “You’re not hard to read, Ferdinand. Maybe you forgot but you did tell me your preference and I only made a wild guess.”

“Are you implying I’m simpleminded, Hubert?” Ferdinand retorted, pouting. Sometimes he forgot how intolerable this man was.

“That’s hardly the case. I simply commented on your inability to retrain yourself from telling a stranger about your likes and dislikes even if we just met. Too trusting for your own good.” Hubert chuckled, amusement in his eyes.

“You terrible man! I thought we were friends back then.” Ferdinand gritted his teeth.

“Enough, the two of you. Please let us enjoy the meal,” Edelgard interfered, giving them each a glare, her stare lingered longer on Hubert and Hubert nodded his head in return like they already reached an agreement in their silence conversation.

Upon seeing that scene, Ferdinand slumped back in his chair and quietly ate his food, trying to ignore the ugly coiling in his stomach at how close Hubert was with her. That was a kind of relationship that Ferdinand could never meddle with, not when he was very much an outsider in their little family, and a liability to Hubert.

Ferdinand found his courage to look up from his tasteless food and glanced at Hubert, just in time to catch something dark flickered in those gold eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came. 

\--------------------------------

After dinner, Ferdinand wandered around the mansion, not that he had anything better to do since Hubert literally vanished as soon as they finished dessert, and he happened to stumble upon Petra and Linhardt in one of the hallways, they were talking rather loud for him not to eavesdropping on them. 

“I have a question, Linhardt”

“Yes, ask away, Petra. I’ll answer it if it’s in my expertise. ”

“About Ferdinand, his looks and the way he speaks and fights with Hubert indicates he is indeed our Ferdinand but I still don’t understand what he is.”

“I understand your concern. Technically speaking, he should not exist in this world, there is no record of such birth in the history of Follan but here he is, in the flesh, so whatever Hubert did to create him, it works.”

_Create?!! Are they talking about me?_

_I...I was created by Hubert?_

Ferdinand stumbled out of his hiding spot, he didn’t care if the other two noticed him over his loud footings or not, he just wanted to get out of here. With that thought, he turned on his heels and sprang, or at least that what his legs were doing on its own. He felt like vomiting, his stomach twisted into a painful knot that if he stopped running he might throw up all the food that he ate.

Ferdinand’s thought was a swirling, tangled mess of what the vampires said about him, ‘You look like him’, ‘We know who you are’, captain Blaiddyd’s words about ‘Killed him before’ and most of all ‘Ferdie’, Hubert also called him ‘Ferdie’. He was positively sure he had never met any of them until now and no one had ever called in ‘Ferdie’ before.

_Who is this ‘Ferdie’?_

_More importantly, Who AM I?_

As Ferdinand ran through the empty halls, he hardly paid attention to where he was going and since the place was as dark as his past, he missed his footstep on a staircase that appeared out of nowhere and nearly fell head on down the stairs if not for a pair of strong arms suddenly wrapped around his waist, within seconds he was pulled into a warm embrace. The momentum caused them to stumble backward as they both landed on the ground with the loud thug, only a few inches away from the edge of the stairs.

“Void’s sake, Ferdinand. Watch where you’re going.” Ferdinand heard the familiar voice chided in his ear, felt those hands cradled the back of his head and the press of lips on his forehead. He could sense Hubert was shaking as he said, breathlessly, “You almost gave me a heartache there.” 

And Ferdinand’s composure crumbled as he slightly backed away to grab the helm of Hubert’s shirt and yelled at the man with tears on the verge of falling, “Hubert! Tell me who am I? Who is ‘Ferdie’? And what do they mean by you created me? What...”

_What am I to you?_

Ferdinand’s words stuttered when two gloved hands cupped his face and pliant lips touched his eyelid to lick away the tears at the corner of his eye. Ferdinand instantly closed his eyes to enjoy the fleeting touch when Hubert did the same to his other eye, his doubts washed away as Hubert spoke again, “I did not create you, Ferdinand. You’re a miracle, a second chance that I don’t deserve but here you are, in my arms again and you’re beyond perfect.”

“Hubert?” Ferdinand mouthed the man’s name, who, when he opened his eyes again, was smiling at him in his rare, genuine smile that made Ferdinand’s heart leaped.

“Come with me, Ferdinand. I’ll tell you everything.” Hubert said at the same time pulling him up and Ferdinand was all but obliged happily. 

\----------------------------

Hubert led him through a series of dimly-lit halls, holding his hand with gloved fingers entangled with his own, and Ferdinand followed suit without a single word. 

They stopped in front of a room different than the rest of the rooms in the mansion, its door was made of dark irony rather than regular wood and Ferdinand immediately know it was Hubert’s.

“Is this your room?” Ferdinand blurted out without thinking.

“Yes, it is.” Hubert looked at him puzzlingly but when he saw how red Ferdinand’s face had become, he flinched, mouth stumbled for words, “I mean yes it’s my room but it’s not what you think…I...Just follow me.”

Hubert abruptly turned his attention back to the door of his room and twisted it open, Ferdinand found the way Hubert’s ears changed color endearing but didn’t voice his opinion as they stepped inside.

Hubert’s room was just like how Ferdinand imagine it would be, though it was big but neat and organized, and simple. The only decoration Ferdinand found was a stack of tomes on the table near a dry quill, the Black Eagle banner on the wall and his bed. Ferdinand’s face heated up as he stared at the king-sized canopy bed with black bedding and imagined himself lying on it with Hubert by his side. He quickly brushed off that train of thought before it got out of hand and fixed his attention back on Hubert, who stopped in front of the wall where nothing particular reside in this side of the room as if Hubert left it empty on purpose. 

Hubert’s other hand touched a certain spot on the wall, a contraction of some sort, and with a loud creak, the wall started moving inward, revealing a secret entrance leading to saint knew where.

Of course, Hubert’s room would have a secret door inside it.

After that, Hubert whipped his head around, hand still held on Ferdinand’s, eyes nervous and mouth pressed into thin lines as he asked, earnestly, “Do you trust me, Ferdinand?”

A normal person should have yanked his hand free and ran for his life from a vampire who was about to lead him into a secret basement hidden inside his own room, but Ferdinand was not a normal person and if he knew one thing from the past few chaos days was that he trusted Hubert more than anything in the world. 

Smiling brightly, Ferdinand mouthed a “Yes” and tightened his grip on the other’s gloved hand.

\-----------------------------

The basement was deep and too dark for Ferdinand to see anything. For a moment, he was afraid the darkness would swallow him whole and left him tumble in this endless void forever if not for the warmth on his hand and the gentle squeeze Hubert gave him now and then when he noticed his agitation, and each time, Ferdinand squeezed back.

“We’re here.” After what felt like a century, Hubert’s voice suddenly echoed in his ear. 

Ferdinand squinted when light reappeared in his peripheral vision as Hubert lit up a fire in his palm with his magic. As they stalked toward the center of the room, Hubert set the candlelight on the wall alive, gradually, this part of the room became bright enough for him to observe. Ferdinand took a look around, and to his disappointment, the room was nothing special. It was nearly empty - here he thought a basement of a dark mage who was also a Vampire would be full with black magic tomes or gruesome experiments, human’s organs even, or at least some skeletons hanging on the wall but all he saw was a two-stepped dais on the far side of the room leading a large canvas painting hanging on the wall. 

“You look rather disappointed, I would say. Can’t find something to prove I’m a villain.” Hubert smirked beside him, his golden eyes shone mischievously in the dimly-lit room and Ferdinand lost himself again.

“Yes…” Ferdinand tore his gaze away, blushing, “It can’t be right. I thought I might find some corpses down here. Someone like you would sleep with a collection of them”

“Fufufu, you might be right but that is my workshop,” Hubert barked a laugh, “This is more like my ‘treasure room’.”

“Treasure room?” Ferdinand arched an eyebrow and scanned the room again, still he only found nothing valuable beside that painting, which was too poorly-lit for him to make out its detail at this distance.

“Yes, my treasure,” Hubert whispered at the same time letting go of Ferdinand’s hand to walk toward the painting. 

With each step he made, the fire on his palm wiped away the shadow and illuminated the painting until it became clearer for Ferdinand to detect the three persons on it. 

Ferdinand saw Edelgard, sitting on a throne wearing the same red armor and horns on her hair, silver hair and purple eyes, the combination of absolute power and determination. She was, as Ferdinand recalled, once an Emperor of the Imperial Empire after all. Standing on her left was none other than Hubert, who wore his vampire outfit and donned his usual unbearable smirk with black hair covered one eye and the other glinted menacing in the shadow. Ferdinand would give the painter his most gratitude for portraying the man so well, so...devilishly handsome. 

So this must be the painting of Edelgard and her advisories then. Now he was curious about who the last man in the painting was, Edelgard’s other advisory, someone was worthy enough to be Hubert’s equal that appeared in the same picture with him.

Once Hubert’s fire lit up to the right side of the painting, Ferdinand spotted a strangely familiar outfit, the same one he was wearing at the moment, red coat with black lapel. As the light brightened further up to reveal the feature of the man, Ferdinand sucked in a sharp breath, eyes wide open in disbelief as he recognized the same long wavy locks of his hair and along with it, Ferdinand’s own face was staring down at him. 

It was HIM?!

 _How can it be?_

“This is the only painting I could steal back from those fanatic scum.” Under the bewildered eyes of Ferdinand, Hubert said, smiling sadly, and Ferdinand noticed the sorrow in Hubert’s peridot eyes, clearer now like he decided to throw away his mark, like he couldn’t pretend anymore. “The only picture of us together.”

“What are you talking about?” Ferdinand managed to ask, his legs felt weak.

Hubert’s fire ceased, fists clenched on both sides and teeth gritted into a hissing, “Ferdinand, you were one of us, a proud Imperial vampire, my only rival, my equal, mine...until that lunatic hound of the Archbishop slaughtered you under my eyes. I...extracted your ‘soul’ from your cold and lifeless body and reserved it so that I could revive you someday.”

“What…” Ferdinand murmured, breathlessly.

Hubert’s face distorted, a maddening laugh slipped out of his usual composure.

“Hahaha...I finally succeeded, I found a way. I beat Fate, I beat the Goddess, I got you back, Ferdinand. After two hundred years, you are now standing before me as the result of my victory over God. But do not concern yourself with that they said, you are not created by me or such nonsense. You are not a facsimile of him. You are him, Ferdinand, and he is you. He was reborn as you, his reincarnation, you and he are my one and only ‘Ferdie’.”

Hubert laughed ceased, deliberately and intensely, golden eyes flared in the shadow, the same emotion that Ferdinand always found in Hubert’s eyes whenever he looked at him. 

Up until now, Ferdinand could finally put a name to it.

Love, in its most twisted way.

Ferdinand felt the world swirling around him and everything suddenly went dark, the last thing he heard before his conscious slipped away was Hubert yelling, “Ferdie.”

**_IV. Allegro assai – Andante – Allegro assai_ **

“Ferdie.” 

_Who is Ferdie?_

“Ferdinand, are you awake?” 

_That voice...Hubert?_

_That’s right, we were in the basement and Hubert said that I was...I was…_

Ferdinand flung his eyes open and the first thing he saw, hovering above his peripheral vision was the melancholy face of Hubert. 

“I’m sorry, Ferdinand. I shouldn’t push you like that. I should have used a more gentle approach.” Hubert apologized, a sense of relief washed over his face, softening the sharp, poisonous edge he showed just a while ago. 

Ferdinand simply stared. 

Hubert, who just laughed like a maniac while revealing to him about his God-defiling deed, reviving the dead, who was pretty much the embodiment of darkness itself, a bloodsucker and a blasphemer, but also Hubert, who was looking down at him like he was something precious to behold.

When he said the painting was his treasure, did Hubert mean him?

Ferdinand wanted to ask it out loud but even more, he wanted to get up from Hubert’s lap and sprint. He wanted to get out of this mansion, to get away from the vampires and Hubert and hopefully, returned to his normal life, to be Ferdinand von Aegir, the righteous human noble again. 

But instead, his mind only circled around that one word, of all the unbelievable things Hubert told him.

_‘Mine’_

Ferdinand was once Hubert’s, and Hubert was his, that was reason enough for him to stay.

He already got tangled a tad too deep with Hubert and his obsessive yet vehement love to ever return back to his normal life again. Not that his heart allowed him to do that either.

So Ferdinand adjusted his position, sitting up a little to snuggle closer to Hubert’s warm chest, they were sitting against the wall with that painting hanging above them, like a proof of what Hubert told him was not a lie but the truth, the truth he had been deprived of for so long.

Ferdinand let out a content sigh when Hubert tightened his hold on him and tucked the blanket higher to cover his head, no it was Hubert’s coat, he had taken it off and protectively wrapped it around Ferdinand to gave him more warmth. With this new position, Ferdinand’s head pressed against the older man’s chest and to his surprise, he heard Hubert’s heartbeat thumping under his ear.

So vampires did have heartbeats, they were not the heartless creatures like the history books described. This discovery brought a smile on his lips.

Hubert saw his smile but didn’t say anything as he kept on stoking Ferdinand’s cheek, occasionally Hubert would lean down to kiss his forehead but immediately withdrew.

“Hubert.” Ferdinand eventually said, disturbing the long silence of them doing nothing but enjoying each other’s presence.

“Yes, darling.” 

“Tell me everything,” Ferdinand demanded, amber eyes locked with golden orbs, unyielding and determinate.

“Of course.” Hubert’s lips curved into a sad smile, “Anything for you.”

\-----------------------------

In his low and smooth voice, Hubert began, the story of his previous life.

“We met each other for the first time when I was 10 and you were 8. At the time, I was already Lady Edelgard’s retainer and you were the son of the prime minister. You were...insufferable, too much energy and too loud for my liking. We instantly dislike each other.”

Ferdinand scoffed.

“We didn’t meet again until we attended the Monastery together…”

“Wait. YOU went to the Monastery?” Ferdinand exclaimed.

“Yes, Ferdinand. Back then it was the only Officer Academy of all Follan, every noble child went there when they were of age, I know it’s hard to believe but Lady Edelgard and that fanatic Blaiddyd were once classmates.”

“Captain Blaiddyd?”

“We all were until the tragedy of Duscur when they accused us of killing the Werewolves, Blaiddyd turned crazy and became the faithful canine of that wicked woman.”

“...I see.”

“Back to us then. We were in the same class and we hated each other’s guts or that was what you said to me one day.” 

Hubert gave Ferdinand a side glance, mouth tugging into a smirk.

“I didn’t mean it! It was probably because you pissed me off so much.”

“I know. I did it on purpose. You always make funny faces when you’re angry.”

“You evil man!”

“Yes, you told me often.” An endearing chuckle, “We were that way for many years, even until we graduated. We both became Lady Edelgard's most trusted advisory, The Left and Right hand of the Emperor. While I worked to eliminate her obstacles in the shadow, you, on the other hand, helped her with diplomatic issues. You were brilliant, mesmerizing, despite that we, vampires, cannot stand the daylight but you shone like the sun and seeing you like that, my feelings for you started to involve…”

“Involve?”

“Yes, involve, from antagonistic to something akin to...fondness.” Hubert blushed, turning away, “And before I knew it, we started to have tea times together, or more like a friendly debate about tea and coffee.”

Ferdinand laughed.

“I learned to tolerate your tea and you to my coffee. I started to...desire more.”

A paused and Ferdinand felt his heart raced.

“I wanted more, not just tea times together.” Hubert turned to face Ferdinand again, face fully redden, “I wanted you, no, I want you still. I saw the same look in your eyes when you looked at me, just like how you look at me right now, Ferdie, I…” 

Ferdinand gently touched the pale cheek, encourage him to continue, “I was prepared to tell you about my feelings, I bought you your favorite flowers and reserved a seat in the Capital’s famous restaurant for the two of us but then...it happened.”

Hubert’s brows knitted together, “The Knight of Seiros came, calling it an Exalted March and branding the vampire traitors of the Goddess for annihilating the Werewolves. The wicked witch’s army and her delirious mongrel slaughtered our citizens and when they headed to the palace, I only had enough time to secure a safe passage for her majesty and you...you foolish man volunteered to be the last go to.”

“Hubert.” Ferdinand cupped the other’s face in his hands, “I’m here.”

“Yes, but you also died protecting me...jumping in front of that beast’s lance to shield me... I only had time to warp us away. I tried to heal you but it was too late…”

Hubert closed his eyes, his breath ragged, “It was too late. You gave me one last smile and closed your eyes forever...I didn’t even have a chance to say that I…I...”

“To say what, Hubert.” Ferdinand whispered, amber eyes soaked with pain and heartbroken, he inched closer, mouth hovering above the pale lips, patiently, “I’m here.”

“To say that I love you more than anything!” Hubert’s lips instantly captured his own and Ferdinand wasted no time to part his mouth, letting the other invade his cavern, tasting him. He also tasted Hubert on his tongue, the bitterness of coffee and wine and just Hubert. 

Ferdinand let out a sob, gosh he wanted to do this for so long and how could he stop himself now that he was already addicted to it.

“Wait, Ferdie.” Ferdinand moaned when Hubert broke the kiss, panting hard, and immediately Hubert gave him a peck on his temper, coaxing, “Let me finish the story. There’s still a lot you need to know.”

Ferdinand pouted but obediently slumped bank on Hubert’s lap, arms wrapping around the older man’s neck.

Hubert kissed the crown of his hair before continuing, “When you...died, I didn’t know why I did it but I immediately seal your soul with my magic inside a special container, one of the von Vestra’s techniques, Necromancy, and it worked, your soul remained with me, inside that container, like you never left. Knowing that, I was able to continue on our escaping journey, along with your body. We found this mansion, House Hresvelg used it mainly for vacation and we made it our hideout. After settling here, we put up an invisible ward, Linhardt, Dorothea and I rotate our duty to strengthen the ward now and then. But sometimes it’s just Linhardt and Dorothea. I rarely attend. Maybe I had gone mad or maybe I just simply couldn’t let you go, I locked myself inside this room, your sepulcher, moping and sometimes even talking to your lifeless body, laying here, on this dais. I tried to put your soul back into your old body many times but it was already decayed beyond the point of functioning. It started to rot and none of my magic could stop its decomposition process. I was desperate, despair beyond any words can describe when I saw your hair started to lose its color and your skin mottled. I remembered screaming and my scream must disturb the others. Her Majesty stomped into this room one day and yelled at me. I knelt in front of her and begged her to forgive me for I couldn’t continue to fight for her dream anymore. I couldn’t…”

Hubert stopped and Ferdinand leaned in to give him a kiss on his cheek, “I couldn't strike for a future without you in it, that's what I said to her, and she left me with a saying that gave me hope again, ‘This is nothing but a cruel joke from the Goddess, Hubert. It is our duty now to fight against her. Defeat the fate she plans for us, Hubert, and take back what was stolen from us.’ She must know I still had your soul with me, she knew everything and she left me to it. And so, my quest to revive you began. Your old body, I had no choice but to burn it. When the flame engulfed your corpse, I finally broke down crying for the first time.”

Hubert carefully retrieved his hand from Ferdinand's back and brought it in front of him. Whining, Ferdinand missed its warmth already. Hubert stared down at both of his hands, still covered in white gloves, and let out a bitter laugh, an expression of both disgust and pain edged on his face, "You're right about me, Ferdinand. The first time we met, you said that I was an evil being, sinister, and you’re not wrong, I am. My hands are stained with blood, no matter how many gloves I put on, I can still see it. You can’t even imagine how many ‘experiments’ I have performed to revive you, how many failed ‘test objects’ had died by my hands, countless and more. They piled up over the last two hundred years. But none could contain your soul. No one dares to approach my workshop because of the screaming and crying. They called me mad for even trying but still, I cannot stop.”

Peridot-colored eyes carefully observed amber ones, to detect any revulsion in those bright eyes but only found sympathy and adoration so far. Gently, Hubert whispered, “Do not waste such sympathy on a monster like me.”

Ferdinand frowned and, under Hubert’s surprised eyes, he hooked Hubert’s arm around his head and positioned it on his waist, once done, he snuggled into Hubert’s lap again, “Nonsense. I wouldn't be here if it wasn’t for you”

A gloved hand was being caressed, gently and carefully, a light kiss on the white knuckles, “Your sins, your crime, I’ll take half of them. Let me share those burdens with you, Hubert.”

"Oh Sweetheart," Hubert placed a worshiping kiss on the hand that was holding his own, "Whatever did I do to deserve you?"

"It is a mystery even to me." Ferdinand all but laughed lightheartedly and nudged the other man to continue.

"If you may know, the reason I was able to conduct my experiment was because of the scripting in the Archbishop's private library that I stumbled upon during my time at the Monastery, and yes, you caught me, I did not stumble but invading, happy? And before you wonder why the library of an Archbishop has this kind of writing, I suspect she also perform these experiments on humans before. For what reason? No, I did not have time to indulge any further into it but because of that woman's finding, I was able to grasp the concept of reincarnation. First I thought I could transfer your soul to any near-death adult body and made it 'absorb' your conscious but those test subjects reject you every time." A wry smile, "After a while, I couldn't risk damaged your soul anymore so I reside to seek other methods. I was more...selected with my test objects, pickier, I chose only the healthiest, strongest of them, man or woman, I didn't care about your reincarnation's gender, only you, your brilliant soul. But reality proved that theory was just that, theory, none of the new objects was suitable enough to bear a soul that was not their own. And before I know it, almost 100 years had passed. We, vampires, do not feel the time passed as clearly as humans, to me it felt like only months like I was on a long vacation. I built my workshop as far away from the mansion as possible, in fear my abducting of test objects would cause the human to suspect us. My world only existed around that room and occasionally I went into town or nearby city to find a suitable test object. I hardly visit Her Majesty and the others, or they dare to come to see me. When I did, I only came down here to look at your painting and rekindle my desire, my doubt, to revive you. At the 100th year, others sought me out to tell me to give up, to let you go, that they needed me in the hideout, but Lady Edelgard told me otherwise, she said I could do as I please with my research as long as I didn't get them involved. So I told her I wanted to leave the hideout for a while and I departed after that, I roamed the soil of Follan with your soul, to the land no one dares to step foot into, to gain more knowledge about this impossible task. This time I was fortunate enough to find the ruined structure that belongs to the Dragonborn, yes the clan of the Archbishop and her so-called Mother. And I found it, her oldest writings about how to resurrect her mother, the Goddess, in the body of a human. In the writing, it is suggested that the soul will choose their suitable reincarnate on its own and the only thing I can do is wait, wait for your soul to tell who the next reincarnate is. I waited, for almost 100 years later, until I noticed a little change in the container, your soul would flicker a little when I went to the right direction, so I went as you guided to your recent mother. Ironically, she is also the next von Aegir Duchess, the traitors who surrender their vampireness to the false Goddess."

Ferdinand's eyes widened, "Traitors?"

Hubert continued, "Yes, Your family after the Exalted War, after you, their heir, announced dead, the rest of your family turned cowards, they voluntarily surrender to the Knight of Seiros, they and many other noble families of the Imperial, worthless scum."

Ferdinand interrupted with a yelp, "My family used to be vampires?"

"Yes, Ferdie, used to be. To show how much of a benevolent ruler she is, the Archbishop spared their lives but to have her mercy and live among the humans, those traitors had to give up their vampireness. I do not know the full details of their transformation, of why after weeks later, the von Aegir reappeared as human nobles and had their own land, but I do theorize they all went drank the Archbishop's blood."

"The Archbishop's blood can do that?"

"In theory, yes, but it only suppresses the vampire blood in them, not completely changes them. But after many generations of inbred with humans, the von Aegir and other old vampire families' bloodline have faded and their offspring have no traits of vampires left in them, including you."

Ferdinand looked down at his hands, disappointment in his tone, “I see.”

Hubert paused, eyeing Ferdinand before he continued, “Now where was I before you interrupted me? Yes, your mother, Ferdie, a desperate woman who cried to the Goddess every night, begging for a child, an heir so her husband wouldn't replace her with a mistress, how laughable and yet, this was the woman that you chose to be your mother, Ferdinand. So I appeared before her one day, saying that I could grant her wish, and a boy at that."

"When my mother said I was being delivered to her by the angel then..."

"Hah," Hubert breathed out, "How impudent of her! No, Ferdie, no angel helped her, it was I. Your mother, she was desperate, she didn't even have to think twice, willingly to make a deal with the Devil as long as she could keep her wealth and title. So, I successfully help her to conceive your soul. And nine months later, you were reborn into this world."

A gloved hand reached out to caress the sun-kissed cheek, voice as soft as a whisper, "You are a miracle, Ferdinand, I visited you as soon as you were born. You lied there in the moonlight, looking like an infant version of your previous self, I was in tears, I knew that I had succeeded, I have you back. But as I was about to take you away, I wavered..."

"Why?" Ferdinand placed his hand over Hubert's, "Why didn't you take me with you?"

Hubert averted his eyes, "At that moment, I was afraid, I was scared I would lose you again, with you being a vampire, a refugee, always on the run, always being hunted down by those Knights. That is not the life I want you to grow up to." Golden eyes found amber again, "You deserve better than that, you belong in the sun, in the light of days and to have a mother that loves you. Ferdinand, you may not remember it but you once told me how you wished to grow up with a mother since yours died after giving birth to you. I didn't want to take that away from you."

"Hubert..."

"So I let you stay with her, your Mother, but before I go, I specifically requested your name must be 'Ferdinand' and that I would come for you when you reach the age of 18. So I did, I came back for you as I promised."

"That abandon church..."

"Yes, I knew if I stayed there and spread the rumor about me, I would get your attention. I finally waited for the day when you appeared in front of me again. You looked just like the time when we studied at the Monastery together, gorgeous, full of life and beaming with sunshine. I wanted nothing more than embracing you right there. And then you asked me about the violin."

"Hubert, what is it about the violin?"

"I composed it during our time at the Monastery, out of spite after a fight with you. It was meant as a way to get my revenge you, a sonata about a devil stealing souls, I specifically imagine your soul that I was taking when I wrote it, how ironic giving the later events. And you happened to stumble upon me playing it. I was ready to hear you chide me about it but you only smiled that ridiculous smile of yours and praised the piece even after knowing what it was about, you were the one who named it ‘Devil’s Trill’. Now that I think about, that must be the time when I finally found you...more tolerable than before."

"Only more tolerable?" Ferdinand teased.

"Yes, darling. I'm pretty much the fool as you always told me. That aside, back to the story. I was taken aback by your question and also by your innocent. I...changed my mind on the spot. I wanted you to come with me on your own accord, not by force. I gave you a challenge and I know you would come back. I thought...maybe you could see reason, maybe if you know how hypocrite the Church was and the story of the vampire, you would be more willing to come with me. But the mistake was mine alone, to let you live among the human, under the influence of the Church and hoping you would change your mind overnight. I lost my temper at you when you said you want to become a Knight of Seiros, the enemies that kill us all. And once again I made another foolish decision of not telling you everything right there. I let you go back to live your life as a human, just for one last day before I told you everything and that decision cost me five more years of losing you."

"What happened on my birthday?"

"Your mother."

"My mother?" Ferdinand gasped.

"Yes, your mother had the gall to lead the Knight of Seiros to my place and secretly send you away to the Monastery. I should have known, the selfishness of humans always exceeds my expectations."

“Why would she do that?” Ferdinand bit his lips.

“Ah, that must be your charm, Ferdie. She must have come to love you as her son after all this time, enough to back down from her deal with a demon.” Hubert sneered.

"Then why didn't you come to the Monastery to find me? I thought you had forgotten about me."

"As if I ever do so, Ferdinand. I can't even if I wanted to." Hubert gritted his teeth, "The Monastery is protected under powerful white magic that will expose any non-human being steps foot in there without permission, it will strip us of our cover and the Knight will be upon us at any moment. But believe me when I say there was not one moment I didn't think about you but what made me scared for your life more than anything was the fact that that wicked woman knew what you were."

"The Archbishop?"

"Yes, that woman saw your face, Ferdinand, in the war. The thought of losing you again after we just met again filled me with resentment and self-destruction, if not for Her Majesty, I might have rushed in there to take you back." A long sigh, "So I waited again for a chance to sneak my spies in there, on the day of the rite of rebirth, they saw you, unharmed, in the uniform of the Academy but surrounded by the Knights, they couldn’t approach you no matter what methods they tried. After that, that wench hid you inside the Monastery like some treasure she must protect, no outsider was allowed to visit you. I knew that she already knew about your origin and she planned to use you against us, against me. Another five years passed, and once I heard from my spies that you finally left the Monastery on your initial battle but with Blaidd, I almost had a heartache when they told me you were going with that barbarian. It was a wonder he didn't kill you off insight."

"Well, to be fair, he procrastinated of doing it the whole time we headed to Embarr," Ferdinand smirked.

"Do not make light of this, Ferdinand." Hubert chided, "My point is, I had my spies following you along the way but that damn ruffian was with you all the time so I couldn't show myself until you reached Enbarr.”

"And so you did." Ferdinand smiled.

"So I did." Hubert nodded, sighing, "At all cost, you finally came back to us."

Hubert paused, brows knitting together, "But you don't have to."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have to stay with us, Ferdinand. You're not a vampire, you're not a refuge like us, you can still return to your human life, bathing under the sun you are born to and achieve your dreams. If that is what you wish then I'll..."

"Stop it!"

\----------------------------

The basement returned to its silence state before the disturbance of its two visitors. 

Ferdinand yanked himself away from the warmth of Hubert’s embrace to stand up abruptly, he heard Hubert’s startle voice behind him but he refused to turn around. Ferdinand was well aware of his petulant behavior was not suited for someone who prided himself in his uprising manners but the fire in his stomach had reached its peak and now was the time for it to burst out.

“Ferdie?” Hubert muttered, staring at Ferdinand speechlessly. 

“Will you just stop it?” Ferdinand yelled, he knew that fire existed the moment he was sent to the Monastery by his mother, it only now magnified tenfold, “You, Hubert, and my Mother, and the Archbishop too, stop trying to make decisions on my behalf. None of you knows what I want! What I really desire!”

Breathlessly, Ferdinand heard the man behind him asked, “What do you desire Ferdinand?”

What he desired, from the first time they met until now, the desire he had tried to bury to the bottom of his heart, the desire that ruined all his childhood’s belief, the one thing he was not willing to give up even if his life already shattered into pieces days ago, it always was...

“You dunce!” Ferdinand whipped his head around, screaming, and under Hubert’s wide eyes, he pushed the older man against the wall and immediately pressed their lips together. Their kiss was more intense this time, more desperate.

“What do you think is the reason I stay in the first place? ..Um...” Ferdinand said between kisses before he knew it, Hubert’s glove hands were all over him, traveling along his back to his waist, resting on his hair to gently cradled his head, adjusting it to the side for better access to his mouth. Ferdinand sobbed into the kiss, “I want you, Hubert, be with you. I want you to change me back to being a vampire. That is possible, right? Please tell me it’s possible!”

Hubert’s hands were suddenly on his hips, securing them in place before he lifted Ferdinand in the air and reversed their position, all in one swift second. Ferdinand now was being pinned against the wall, locked between Hubert’s arms, mouth being ravished, unable to move but all too willing to give himself to the older vampire.

“Do you even know what you just said, Ferdinand?” Ferdinand felt Hubert groaned in his mouth, tongue immediately went to entwine with his own, two vampire teeth already sprang out and were nipping at his lower lip. 

“Yes, I do, you insolent man.” Ferdinand twisted his tongue around one of Hubert’s fang, causing the man sucked in a sharp breath, “Change me back, please Hubert. I want to fight alongside you.”

Hubert hardly broke their lips away and hissed out breathlessly, “Do you realize by doing that you will never walk under the sunlight again?”

“Why do you think it matters to me whether I can walk in the sun or not? That is not where I belong. I belong here with you, with them.” Ferdinand hissed back, panting hard.

“What about your mother and your human friends? Are you aware that by taking our side, you may have to fight them someday? Can you hold your sword against them if need to?” Hubert questioned, frowning when he saw the stiffness in Ferdinand’s expression.

Ferdinand was speechless for a moment. Yes, it was true he never thought that far, that deep about his decision, but as traitorous as it may, as much as he knew it would break his mother’s heart, this was the first decision he ever made for himself. 

“My mother, I’m sure she’ll understand...someday.” Ferdinand stuttered eyes fluttered closed as he swallowed the lump in his throat. Once he opened then again, he grabbed onto the helm of Hubert’s shirt to keep that mouth close to his again, he needed to feel the warmth of this man against his body, to reassure himself that this was the right choice, “How could you ever thought that I would come back to her, after what you told me about the Archbishop? And may I remind you of Blaiddyd? He made it very clear that he’ll kill me off if I ever appear within his sight again. I have nowhere to go but here. Hubert, I’m not a child anymore. This is my choice, no, my order. I order you to change me back right now.”

Hubert’s grip on his hips tightened, voice hoarse, “How demanding of you, darling. Not to mention the risk of failure in the procedure but the pain you have to go through, Ferdie. I hardly want to put you through it.”

Ferdinand let out a frustrated groan, limbs entangled from Hubert’s to make his escape, “Fine. If you don’t want to do it yourself then I’ll go ask the others…”

But Ferdinand didn’t even make it out of Hubert’s embrace that he was being slammed back against the wall, familiar hands pinned his wrists above his head, long leg trapped between his own and a pair of hot, delicious mouth hovered above the side of his face as Hubert hissed dangerously into his ear, “As if I allow others to taste your blood, Ferdinand.”

Ferdinand shivered, a chill ran down his spine as Hubert’s lips traveled along the side of his cheek, and without warning, he felt something sharp scraping at the skin of his neck. Ferdinand moaned and rocked his hips against the man above him, “Hubert, please.”

“Very well,” Hubert gave his neck a little nip, too light to draw blood, and cradled Ferdinand into his arms, “Let’s head upstairs love. I don’t want your first time to be in a place like this.”

\------------------------------

If Ferdinand’s mind hovered around those ‘first time’ words more than necessary was not his fault, he was inexperienced in the subject of sexual intercourse as well as all things related to vampires. 

That was why when Hubert, as soon as they were back into his bedroom again, hastily pushed him onto the black bedding and towered over him, mouth desperately seeking his, Ferdinand all but shoved him away and screamed, “Wait! Hubert!”

Hubert flinched, his expression changed from startling to shame as he propelled himself off of Ferdinand, face turned away, “I’m sorry, I was too caught up in the moment...We can wait until you’re ready.”

“No, Hubert.” Ferdinand sat up and cradled Hubert’s face in his hands, “I mean yes, I told you to stop but it’s because I’m ashamed you’ll find my inexperience...laughable but I’m ready, ready as I’m ever be.”

“Oh, Ferdie.” Hubert sighed, “What makes you think I’ll criticize you for it? In fact, I…” The tip of Hubert’s ear reddened, “I’m no better than you in that aspect either.”

“Oh, really? Ferdinand’s eyes lit up, “So the ferocious vampire Hubert von Vestra never share a bed with anyone before? How scandalous!”

“I would say the same for you.” Hubert smiled bitterly, “Someone of your look should be swarming with admirers. I thought, in those five years apart, that...someone already stole your heart and I once again lost my chance with you.”

Groaning, Ferdinand lunged forward, knocking Hubert on his own bed, and straddled him with his knees locking on each side of Hubert’s thighs. Ferdinand’s long hair fanned over Hubert’s broad shoulders as he sat on the older man’s lap, hands cupping the paler face, their breath hovered above each other, “I would have if not for my heart already belongs to you, only you.”

Lips instantly clashed against lips, each had their arms roaming along the other’s body in a desperate attempt to reassure their aching hearts that this was real, not some kind of dream that was caused by their overbearing longing. 

Ferdinand moaned into the kiss, parting just enough to savor the taste of Hubert on his tongue, “Hubert, I love you...Please, I want you to claim me, the whole me, I want it for so long...”

Hubert let out a predatory groan as chapped lips claimed his own once more, “If I knew you’re this needy, Ferdie, I should have stormed the Monastery and stole you back sooner.”

Ferdinand moaned contently when Hubert’s gloved hands returned to their tasks to remove his garments.

\-------------------------------

“Ah…”

Ferdinand sobbed, squirming in Hubert’s lap at the intrusion. Before long, he was being stripped down of his clothes, bare and vulnerable in front of history’s monstrous creature, a vampire and a human-sacrifice maniac, a God-defiling criminal and the darkness himself, but none of them mattered when those lime-green eyes only looked at him like he was his greatest treasure, heard his name chanted on the man’s lips like it was his prayer, and felt every inch of his body being worshipped by calloused hands. Ferdinand didn’t care about these meaningless things for his attention was now merely focus on the fingers stretching his inside.

“Darling, you’re doing good. Relax,” Hubert coaxed at the same time adding another finger in, “Like that. Just a little more.”

“Hubert, Hurry up!” Still sitting on the older man’s lap, Ferdinand tightened his grip on Hubert’s neck and rocked his hips forward.

Hubert leaned in to suck on one of Ferdinand’s erect nipples, causing him to yelp in surprise, “Bear with me, Ferdie. I want you to enjoy this as well.” Hubert cooed. “The turning process is not something normal humans can withstand, you need a distraction...” 

“And this is supposed to be a distraction?” Ferdinand gave him a glare, Hubert really took his time to explore his body thoroughly, and Ferdinand loved the man’s full attention on him but he swore to the Dark Lord or whatever vampires worshipped, all the teasings and nippings only built up his desire even more, he needed, no, he must have Hubert inside him, “This is torture. Hubert, I want your cock inside me, _now_!”

“How bossy you are, love.” Hubert chuckled and withdrew his fingers from Ferdinand’s twitching hole, “Very well. Hold on to me.”

And Ferdinand felt the tip of Hubert’s cock slipped through his entrance, moving in an annoyingly slow speed as he inched himself further inside Ferdinand’s body. 

“AH!” Ferdinand moaned loudly when the last of Hubert’s length was sheathed within him. Gosh, it was even better than he imagined, he could feel the shape of Hubert’s cock stretching his walls and the tip touching his prostate.

“Flames, you’re amazing, darling. You swallow me whole.” Hubert breathed out, strong arms placed on both sides of Ferdinand’s hip to lift him up, Ferdinand whined when he felt Hubert’s cock slide out of his entrance with only the tip was still inside.

“I’ll move now.” Without waiting for Ferdinand to reply, Hubert shoved his cock upward, slamming all the way inside, making Ferdinand seeing stars.

Hubert repeated his action once more, many more, always thrusting to the hilt. Ferdinand’s insides churned with each thrust, his hips automatically moved along with Hubert’s rhythm, making it easier for Hubert to claim him, to possess him, to make Ferdinand belong to him.

Ferdinand felt his climax was coming and he knew Hubert was too by the frantic thrusting inside him, drowning him in pleasure. 

He suddenly felt Hubert’s hot breath beside his ear, nipping at his ear shells, “Ferdie, I’ll begin the process now. I’ll have to drain out your blood, lots of it. Don’t be afraid, focus on the pleasure. Can you do that for me, Ferdie?”

Ferdinand nodded his head, sniveled, “Please...Hubert, take me...AH!”

And Hubert did just that. Ferdinand screamed as two sharp fangs tore his flesh apart and sank deep into the side of his neck at the same time he felt Hubert’s cock slammed hard against his sweet spot, pain and pleasure mixed together wonderfully at that moment, causing Ferdinand’s whole being to burst out with bliss.

“AHH!” Ferdinand’s body curved into a graceful arch, arms hood firmly around Hubert’s neck as Hubert fucked him through his climax, his seed spurted out dirtying Hubert’s shirt and Hubert’s planted deep within him.

But before Ferdinand had time to catch his breath and felt the pain in his neck, Hubert’s shaft stiffened inside him and slowly began its previous task of probing on his prostate, Ferdinand was all too happy to indulge himself in this endless bliss of pain the pleasure again.

\-----------------------------

“Ferdie, can you hear me?” Halfway through their lovemaking, Ferdinand felt his conscious fading, it was because of their intense sexual intercourse or the blood loss, he didn’t know, but as he was slipping between dream and reality, Ferdinand felt Hubert’s hand on his face, carved open his jaw and forcing something down his throat. Red liquid, thick and musty texture, tasted copper-liked.

Blood. It was Hubert’s blood. 

He was cradled in Hubert’s lap, still naked and covered with the evidence of their love-making, his head resting on Hubert’s shoulder as Hubert slit his own wrists and let the blood drip down to Ferdinand’s open mouth. 

“Ferdie, drink it. You need my blood to replace the amount of blood you’ve lost.” 

And Ferdinand obliged, twirling his lips to let more liquids pouring down his throat. After a while, he grabbed on Hubert’s arm and sucked on the wound himself. 

He wanted more, he was beyond thirsty and only Hubert’s blood could quench his thirst.

“Good boy,” He felt Hubert’s kiss on his temper, “This is only the first phrase. In a couple of hours, you will feel nothing but coldness as your body slowly die, it is when it starts to react with my vampire blood, to accept it as its own. That is the crucial moment in this process. But don’t worry, love. I’ll always be at your side.”

Ferdinand wanted to say something to his lover but his body only acted on its own for now. Within minutes, his eyes started to droop low and Ferdinand faintly remembered Hubert placed a kiss on his blood-smear lips before he fell into a deep slumber.

\--------------------------------

Ferdinand knew he was drowning, his body felt heavy, so did his eyelids.

Was he dying? 

No, he couldn’t die yet, now when he finally knew what he was, where he belonged, with the last of the vampires, his brethren, and Hubert...

“Von Aegir, Why are you dozing off when I’m talking to you?”

Speaking of the devil, here he was, standing in his peripheral vision once he managed to flick his eyes open again but Ferdinand immediately noticed something was off about this Hubert.

“Ah, I see. Thinking of some new sedition to show you’re superior to Lady Edelgard?” Hubert sneered, hostility clear in his tone, “How many times do I have to tell you? A noble like you are inferior to her. You should know your place.”

Ferdinand gasped, not only did this Hubert looked much younger than his Hubert, with long hair and wearing the Monastery uniform (?), but also full of antagonistic toward him. And before his mind could comprehend the reason for Hubert’s sudden change of attitude, he found his mouth move on its own, “Sedition? Absurd. What I’m doing is better than a noble like you. Every time you open your mouth is “Lady Edelgard this” or “Lady Edelgard that”.Do you ever think for yourself? You follow her like a pet. You spend all of your time fretting over her, and yet you never truly express an opinion of your own. Before you reprimand me, take a moment to consider your own failings.”

Hubert’s mouth tugged into a smirk as he snarled, “Does the river of filth pouring out of your mouth ever stop flowing? Your nonsense is tiresome, so I hope this is the last time I have to remind you.”

With that said, Hubert walked off to the other direction and he, no, his body, tugged out his tongue at Hubert’s back.

_What’s going on here_? Ferdinand thought as his body stopped in front of a room and entered it. Surprisingly, this room was exactly like his quarters back at the Monastery, or maybe every room in the dorm looked the same. Ferdinand’s body sat down on the only chair in the room and pull out a mirror. Ferdinand froze as soon as he stared at himself in the mirror. 

An image of a teenage Ferdinand was looking back at him, with shorter orange hair and two big bright eyes, and most of all, he still wore the dreaded Monastery student uniform that Ferdinand abhorred with a passion.

Ferdinand’s mind raced, he never recalled going to the Monastery with Hubert before unless…

An idea flashed through his head as he stared at himself in the mirror, who was now trimming his eyebrows while humming a happy tune.

This was not Ferdinand’s memory but rather of Ferdinand’s in his previous life, the life in which Hubert told him when he was still a noble vampire and they attended the Monastery together, the memory before he died.

The scenery changed as soon as Ferdinand reached that conclusion. 

He was not in his dorm room anymore but leisurely strolling down the hall of the Monastery’s upper dorm, where the professors dwelled. Ferdinand found himself stop mid-way as a gentle melody reached his ears. Slowly, he pushed open the door where the music originated.

Standing in the empty classroom, playing the same violin piece from before, Devil’s Trill, was none other than Hubert.

Ah, so this was when Hubert said Ferdinand stumbled upon him composing the piece.

Ferdinand, aso his past-life self, stayed rooted on the ground as he stared dumbfounded at the vampire holding the instrument under the moonlight. 

Hubert looked serene when he played the violin, his black hair seemed to dissolve into the darkness of the room, only half of his face was visible, illuminated by the moonlight through the windows. Hubert’s eyes fluttered closed, expression softened as he moved in tune with the music, gloved fingers danced on the strings and Ferdinand found his heart leap at the sight, just like the first time he met Hubert in the abandoned church.

Now he understood where his fetish with Hubert’s gloved hands came from.

Hubert didn’t notice Ferdinand’s presence until he finished the violin, turn his head around and nearly jumped out of his skin, “Von Aegir?! When did you start standing there?”

Ferdinand saw Hubert quickly adjusted his emotions, the earlier astonishment and embarrassment evaporated, he now donned that annoying smirk on his face again, “Eavesdropping is hardly a virtue for an upbringing noble like you, von Aegir. Or my assumption about you is correct? You’re all but talk.” 

So Hubert was this intolerable in their school days? Past!me, please tell him he looked like a stinky rat lurking in the shadows.

“Then what does it make you?” Past!Ferdinand really snapped at Hubert, “A noble that looks like a stinky rat lurking in the shadows? And it doesn’t count as eavesdropping when everyone can hear your bloody violin from miles away.”

Splendid job, Past!me.

Hubert’s frown deepened, hands clinging tightly on his violin, and turned to leave. As he was about to storm past Ferdinand, his past self suddenly spluttered out, “What is the meaning of that violin piece?”

Hubert’s step ceased as he glanced back at Ferdinand, snake eyes observing him, “Why do you ask?”

“It is...captivating.” Ferdinand began, swallowing a little before continuing, “Why are you looking at me like that? Can a noble appreciate a good piece of music? The melody is mesmerizing, to say the least. Did you compose it yourself?”

Slowly, Hubert nodded his head, “I did.”

And under the surprised eyes of Ferdinand, Hubert stepped into his personal space and reached out his free hand to lift his chin up, mouth curved into a smirk, “It is about a devil waiting to steal the soul of the person he despites. Since you’re the one listens to it, do you wish for me to take your soul away, Ferdinand von Aegir?”

This scene seemed eerily all too familiar to him. 

“Ferdinand.” Ferdinand suddenly blurted out, face reddened.

“Pardon?” Hubert flinched.

“Well, you already made an effort to call my name, which you avoid saying like it’s a curse or something. So why don’t just call me ‘Ferdinand’ from now on?” Ferdinand beamed Hubert a smile, who suddenly withdrew his hand like he was just being burnt. 

“I don’t see calling you by your name has anything to do with the violin.” Hubert chided but still kept his gaze locked on Ferdinand, there was that unreadable glint in his cat-like eyes again.

“All I’m saying is that I appreciate your talent, Hubert. Despite the fact that you can be pissy sometimes, and insufferable, but that piece you played just now shows that underneath that ruthless demeanor of yours, you still have a soft side. Your music has proved it.” Ferdinand smiled genuinely at Hubert, who, as he observed, blushed a little with his mouth slightly agape.

Ferdinand waited for Hubert’s answer, or a snide maybe, but all he received was utter silence as the other vampire stared speechlessly at him. Sighing disappointedly, Ferdinand turned on his heels and headed out of the room, but he suddenly stopped just a few steps away from the threshold, whipping his head around, he asked, “Say, Hubert, Have you already thought of a name for it?”

The sudden question caught Hubert off guard as he stuttered, “No, I haven’t?”

“How’s about ‘Devil’s Trill’? A suitable name for a sonata plays by the Devil, don’t you think?” With that said, Ferdinand dashed out of the door to rush back to his room. As he leaned back against the door of his private quarters, his past self fell on the floor and hid his face in his knees, the heat from that hand still lingered on his skin.

That was the first time Ferdinand realized he had feelings for Hubert.

Taking advantage of his situation, a rare chance to witness one’s past life, Ferdinand acquainted himself with the rest of the vampires through the eyes of his past self, as though they were his own, well, they were in a manner of speaking.

He was beyond delighted to know that his best friend, in school as well as later on, turned out to be Miss. Dorothea Arnault. She wasn't born into nobility but that hardly what Ferdinand looked for in a friend. Dorothea was an amazing opera singer, she was witty, flirtatious with other girls, but also impatient and caring, she was his only source of comfort when things got sour with Hubert. Ferdinand even said to her one day ‘What would I do without you?’ to which she giggled and patted him on his back, ‘You’ll be blinded for the rest of your life, that is.’ How true that was giving how clueless he was in his second life. 

Ferdinand deemed Caspar von Bergliez and Bernadetta von Varley as his doting siblings during their Academy. Not only they were younger than him but he, as a model noble took it as his duty to commend on Caspar’s similar sense of justice and coax Bernadetta out of her room to enjoy her life, which sometimes caused the poor vampire girl to flee from him. By the look of it, Bernadetta had changed for the last hundred years, grew up to be a graceful lady and Caspar, well, he knew when to shut his mouth at least. 

Ferdinand found Petra Macneary’s intelligent admirable. She was from a minor vampire clan who barely spoke the common Imperial language but within a year of studying alongside them, Petra had improved tremendously, she could speak a full conversation with them with little or no mistakes. Someone with such strong wills deserved his recognition and praise whenever he could give her.

And lastly, Edelgard von Hresvelg, the Imperial Princess. His first impression of her was not too good, placid and perhaps cold-hearted, but as he observed her from afar, his opinion of her changed. He came to understand why someone of such talent like Hubert was so dedicated, devoted to her. Under her cold and harsh demeanor, Edelgard had the most compassion heart Ferdinand ever met in his life, she was as hot as a fire and just as passionate about her cause. At some point, Ferdinand had pledged loyalty to this Princess and decided to stay by her side once she coronated as the Emperor, to help her achieve her dream and to guide her to a righteous path, as the Right hand of the Emperor. 

Ferdinand also saw a glimpse of Dimitri Blaiddyd, still the Faeghus prince at the moment, who studied in the same class as them for one or two semesters, and almost couldn’t believe his eyes when that charming, polite prince would turn out to be a bloodthirsty monster in the future. 

Ferdinand felt a little sympathy for the werewolf, after all, he was all but a victim of fate, just like him.

Most of all, his trips through the land of his past life’s memory took him through the ups and downs of his and Hubert’s relationship, from the antagonistic tension, shifted into lingering stares, occasionally praises for the other’s accomplishments, and the relieved sighs when they learned they would both work beside each other after graduation, as the Left and Right hands of the Emperor. He witnessed how Hubert changed from the greasy rat of his school days to a gentleman that he was today. He wore more tailor-made clothes that brought out his tall form, tending his hair neatly under his ear, his longer bang was trimmed just enough to cover his right eye. 

Ferdinand always found himself melted into a puddle whenever those eyes look at him, making his insides churn, causing him to lose control. Just like right now, as the memory took him back to the day when they, Edelgard, him and Hubert, stood still in front of a famous Imperial artist as he carefully sketched their painting.

“Prime Minister, Can you move a little bit closer to Minister Vestra?” He heard the painter asked.

“Why? I think this is quite close enough.” Ferdinand spluttered.

“Just do as the man said, Ferdinand, and get it done with.” Hubert glowered, “I still have much to do after this.”

“Well easy for you to say since you do not care about how your picture turns out but to me, being painted beside a...glowering vulture would do much harm to my image.” Ferdinand snapped, his cheeks burned. 

“Gentlemen, please.” Edelgard chided on her throne, “Could you not fight over such frivolous things?”

“Fine.” Ferdinand reluctantly sighed and moved a bit closer to Hubert, the end result was that their gloved hands touched slightly and it took Ferdinand tremendous amount of struggling to keep his expression as placid as possible. Though he didn’t fail to notice the quirk Hubert gave him every now and then.

Damn you Hubert and your devilish handsomeness! 

The scenery abruptly shifted into another fragment of his memory, where, out of nowhere, Hubert’s self-congratulatory face was so close to his own that it almost gave Ferdinand a heart-attack. They were sitting on the opposite side of each other and enjoying a peaceful tea time together, in Hubert’s case, coffee. 

The gaze Hubert was giving him across the suddenly-shrink-smaller table bored a hole into his heart. It was the same look Hubert gave Ferdinand on the night of their first time together, longing, yearning, full of affection and love. They stared at the other for a long moment before Hubert made the first move, reaching out his hand to gently lift one of Ferdinand’s manes and examine it in his hand like it was the most exquisite thing he had ever seen in his life. 

Gently, Hubert asked, “Ferdie...will you go on a date with me?”

Ferdinand was pretty certain that his past self uttered a ‘yes’ before fainting on Hubert’s lap.

From ‘von Aegir’ to ‘Ferdie’, what a long ride they had been through.

But that was also the last happy memory he had.

The next time his memory reshaped itself again, the first thing he saw when the image became stable was what could be called the remaining of the Capital of Enbarr. 

Gone was the garden blooming with flowers that he had leisure evening tea times with Hubert, or the structures of thousand years old that made any vampire proud even by looking at them. Scattering on the concrete floor of the used to be grand hall were hundreds of corpses, good Imperial soldiers, palace maids or just innocent noble children, their blood painted the white title in red. Gone was the thousand-year reign of the Imperial Empire, everything turned to ash within a single day.

“Ferdie!” Someone called him from behind, dragging him away from his stupor. It was Hubert, who urged him to step into the warp glowing on the floor, it was big enough for at least 7 people to stand into, Linhardt, who seemed to be serious for once, was transferring his magic to maintain the circle. Almost everyone was inside one of the magic circle, except for him and Hubert.

“Hubert, you go with them. I’ll stand guard.” Ferdinand yelled back.

“This isn’t the time to argue, Ferdinand.” Hubert glowered, “Get in the circle, now!” 

But before Ferdinand could answer, the gate of the castle burst open, revealing Blaiddyd, the Blaiddyd that he knew, insane and beastly, in his werewolf form, appeared just a few distances from them.

“Go! Now!!” Ferdinand urged, ready his sword to face the werewolf. 

“Linhardt, you take the others to go first.” He heard Hubert ordered behind him, and with a strong gust, the circle activated and warped Edelgard and his comrades to a safe place.

“FILTHY VAMPIRES! DIE!” Blaiddyd charged forward like a force of nature and Ferdinand hardly defended himself against such brute force. 

“Ferdie, just a little more,” Hubert said, Ferdinand felt the flow of magic behind him and he knew that Hubert was ready his magic for another warp.

“Don’t think I’ll let you escape that easily, you monsters! I’ll kill every last one of you.” Blaidd let out a roar.

“Ferdie, quick! Come here!” Hubert yelled at the same time aiming a Miasma at Blaiddyd to help him escape, causing the werewolf to jump back a few feet, just enough time for Ferdinand to rush toward where Hubert was standing.

“Damn you! Fucking die, bloodsuckers!” Blaiddyd howled and, to Ferdinand’s horror, hurled the lance he was holding directly at Hubert.

“HUBERT!” Without thinking, his body moved on its own volition as he threw himself in front of Hubert, taking the lance at full force. 

Ferdinand let out a whimper as the sharp metal head pierced through his bones, flesh and impaled his heart, blood spurted out of his mouth, splashing on the bewilderment face of Hubert.

Ferdinand landed on Hubert’s lap and, using all his remaining strength, he shouted, “Hubert! GO!”

And Hubert frantically pulled him tighter against his chest as the magical warp began its swirling, and within seconds, it took them far away from the Fallen city of Enbarr. 

“FERDIE!” 

Ferdinand felt their feet touch the hard ground again, he felt Hubert shakily pulled the lance out of his back, he felt Hubert cradled him into his chest and frantically healed him with his magic.

But it was too late. It was a Blessed Lance, infused with light magic to kill non-human creatures like them.

“Ferdie, open your eyes! Look at me, Ferdie!”

Ferdinand tried to do as he was told but his eyelids were just too heavy.

“Please don’t leave me behind.”

He felt warm lips kissing his face and his heart bled more than it already was. 

Ferdinand used his last of his wills to pry his eyes open and the last of his strength to beam a smile at Hubert, let this be his parting gift for him.

Taking in Hubert’s feature for the last time, engraving them deep inside his soul, Ferdinand felt life being drained from him, slowly and dreadfully, his eyes flustered close and his conscious started to drift further away. Hubert’s heartbroken scream could not reach his ear anymore.

The last thought flashed in his mind before death ripped him away from the man he loved was, ‘Too bad, I haven’t told him I loved him yet.’

**_Epilogue_ **

“Hubert!”

Ferdinand yanked his eyes open, panting hard as he surged up from his bed, eyes immediately scanned the room for Hubert’s figure but his lover was nowhere to be found. 

He was sweating, two streaks of tears were streaming down his cheeks, his body shivered in the cold of the night. They left him alone in this room, a room so unfamiliar to him that made his heart bled.

The aftereffect of his past-life memory still haunting him like a thread over his head, it was too real, all the pain and happiness in his past life, the agony of his death and the everlasting regret of his inability to tell Hubert about his true feelings before it was too late. It carved into his soul, this love for Hubert, even after two hundred years, it still burned inside him with the longing and desire for the man, the reason why he never scared of Hubert when they first met, why he longed for Hubert to touch him, to claim him and why he felt the need to ask Hubert to turn him back. 

He finally understood everything and this realization made him terrified beyond words. “HUBERT!” Ferdinand screamed again, more desperate this time. 

Please tell me that everything is not a dream. That you are real, not my imagination.

“Hubert!” Ferdinand flung his feet to the side of the bed to support himself up. He only managed to stand up a little when the dizziness hit him, his head felt like being split open, his body voided of any energy. 

While Ferdinand was struggling with the lightheadedness, trying to keep his balance on the floor, the door suddenly burst open and Hubert stomped in, looking even paler when he already was, “Ferdie, what happened? Are you hurt?”

“Hubert!” Ferdinand cried out, pushing his wobbling legs to work but they were no better than a pair of wooden sticks that made Ferdinand stumbled forward and almost landed his face head on to the hard floor if not for Hubert’s arm catching him in time.

“Ferdie!” Hubert pulled him further into his lap protectively and with his free hand, he roamed along Ferdinand’s body to check for any injury. 

“Hubert!” Ferdinand sobbed onto Hubert’s shoulder, arms wrapped around the other man’s slimmer body, the warmth of Hubert’s body managed to smooth out the pain in his frantic heart.

“Void’s sake, Ferdie,” Hubert breathed out, kissing the crown of Ferdinand’s head, “You nearly made my heart jump out of me with that scream. I thought we were under attack from the Knights or such.”

“Hubert, I remember,” Ferdinand whispered against Hubert’s chest.

“Pardon?” Hubert flinched, the arms around him tightened.

Ferdinand parted his face a little to look up at Hubert, “I remembered my past life, Hubert. Our school days together, our early hostile relationship...Edelgard and Dorothea and others, the tea times...and how I died…”

“Oh, darling.” Hubert cupped his face in both his hands and leaned down to kiss away his tears, “It’s all in the past, Ferdinand. Everything is fine now, you are here with us again, with me and belong to me. Know that I’ll cut down anyone dares to steal you away from me again, even the Goddess herself.”

“You sound like Edelgard.” A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, feeling his pain and grief eased each time Hubert stroke along his cheeks. Keeping his gaze locked with his lover, Ferdinand playfully placed a hand over Hubert’s to pull it toward his lips and darted out his tongue to lick around Hubert’s bare thumb.

“Look like someone hungry.” Hubert cooed at the same time sliding his free arm down to Ferdinand’s waist, gently he pulled him in closer and then tilted his head to aside, revealing his neck for Ferdinand, “Ferdie, drink my blood, you must be starving after the Turn.”

Ferdinand’s eyes immediately darted toward the pulse on Hubert’s neck, his stomach churning, the thought of drinking Hubert’s blood numbed his senses, burning him inside out. Uncertainly, he mustered, “I can?”

“Of course,” Ferdinand shivered as Hubert whispered into his ear, coaxingly, “Look at you, your fangs are showing. Go ahead, Ferdie. My blood is all yours.”

Ferdinand shuddered with the thirst for blood, his control slipping away from him. Slowly, he felt the vampire side started to take the wheels, guiding his body to lunge forward and a sniff on Hubert’s skin was all it needed for him to sink his teeth into the side of Hubert’s neck, drinking in the delectable flavor of his lover’s blood.

\------------------------

Ferdinand never realized how much he had missed out over the last 23 years of his human life, not until he was being cuddled in Hubert’s arm after filling his stomach with his lover’s blood, knowing that this was where he truly belonged. 

“I didn’t know you were this...voracious, Ferdie,” Hubert chuckled, long finger twirling one of Ferdinand’s locks, “No wonder why our blood supplies at the Academy were always run out.”

“That is not true!” Ferdinand retorted, “For all I know, it might be Caspar who drank all the blood supplies.” 

But he paused, eyes glancing at the two small wounds on Hubert’s neck and the blood on his white shirt. Biting his lips, Ferdinand lifted his head to place a kiss on one of them, “I’m sorry. I might have gone a little overboard. I can’t seem to control it yet.”

“Don’t fret yourself over it, love.” Ferdinand felt the other’s lips on his forehead, “All I need is a little nap to recoup my strength.”

Ferdinand settled back to rest his head on Hubert’s chest, silently listening to the beating of his heart, still in awe with the new revelation that this man was truly his.

“I love you, Hubert” Ferdinand murmured, “That's what I wanted to say to you in my last moment.”

Hubert’s body tensed under his touch and Ferdinand felt the urge to slam his head to the bedpost for reopening Hubert’s old wounds, so, he stuttered, “Ah, silly me. We shouldn’t talk about that, should we? Such insensitive of me. Maybe we can talk about...our time in the Academy? There’s still a lot I haven’t remembered yet.”

After a long silence, in which Ferdinand thought maybe he could just pretend to doze off for good, Hubert eventually sighed, “Very well. What do you want to know? I can’t say we had the best memory with each other during that time.”

Ferdinand scoffed, “Of course. How could we when you looked like a grotesque description of a living ghoul that was always ready to snap at me at any second? Seriously though, I cannot recall why you detested me so?”

“I did not detest you, Ferdinand.” Hubert said in response, “It’s just...you very presence made me lose my control and I don’t like it.”

“You said my mouth ‘flow with filth’”, Ferdinand pouted, “Funny to think that you just kiss that filthy mouth a moment ago.”

“And I’m gladly doing it again,” Hubert smiled into Ferdinand's hair, “Let’s just say I have it coming, my majestic creature.”

“Didn’t know you such a sweet talker.” Ferdinand propelled himself on Hubert’s lap and traced his finger over the chapped lips of the other vampire, mouth curved upward as a thought came to his mind, “Now that I think about it. Hubert von Vestra, you still owe me a proper date.”

\-----------------------------

It was a day later that Ferdinand had enough energy to meet the other dwellers of this mansion. 

Hubert gave him back his old armor pieces, which were preserved pretty well for some ancient metals from two hundred years ago. 

Ferdinand carefully put them on, over the red coat, his pants and finally clasped the cape around his shoulder before he eagerly looked proudly at himself in the mirror (yes, vampires did have their reflection in the mirror, shame on you, Follan’s historians.)

This was what he was meant to be, Ferdinand von Aegir, the Vampire Prime Minister.

Hubert came up behind and hooked one arm around his waist, the other raised up to gently wipe his hair sideways, exposing his neck and a few kiss marks on it. Hubert made a ‘tsk’ sound with his tongue and leaned down to place another one on the side of his neck, “You look just as perfect as I remember, darling.”

“And you,” Ferdinand observed Hubert’s reflection in the mirror and yes, how he loved Hubert in that cursed Minister uniform of his, it truly brought out Hubert’s attractiveness.

“We will be late.” Hubert let him go and took his hand, together they walked down the stairs toward the council room in the mansion.

“Well, if you look at that.” Caspar was the first one noticing them and soon, the others as well, “Finally grace us with your presence, huh, Prime Minister?”

“Caspar, Ferdie’s only recover after the Turn, give him some slack, would you?” Dorothea chided.

Upon seeing her, Ferdinand released Hubert’s hand to rush toward his best friend as he gave her a hug, “My dear Thea, how I miss you.”

“Ferdie…” Dorothea was taken aback for a moment before hugging him back, “Oh, Ferdie. You bad, bad friend. Do you know I much I cried when it happened?” 

“I know.” Ferdinand patted her back, “I won’t leave everyone again.”

After that, Ferdinand went around and hugged everyone in the room. 

Petra kept her composure but tears could be seen on the corner of her eyes. Bernadetta cried her heart out and quickly apologized for wetting his clothes. Caspar gave him a fist pump and complaint to him how boring life was without his ‘partner in justice’, and even had the gall to call him ‘Little Brother’ to which he retorted ‘Just because I was reborn doesn’t mean you can treat me like a child’, causing the entire room to snicker at him, Hubert included. Linhardt, surprisingly, hugged him back but then excused himself to sit down on one of the chairs with the reason ‘hugging drains the energy out of him’.

And lastly, with Edelgard, Ferdinand gave her a bow instead, “Your Majesty. It’s good to see you haven’t strayed from your path yet, but do not fret, with me here everything will be on the right track again.”

Edelgard massaged her forehead, “Yes, Ferdinand. I’m glad to have you and your optimism but more importantly,” She then gave Hubert a glance across the room, “With you back, my spymaster can finally function again.”

Hubert quickly rushed forward and knelt in front of her, “Your Majesty, Please forgive my negligence over my duty for the last two hundred years.”

“Oh, so you finally acknowledge me as Your Majesty again? I thought your mind was full of nothing but Ferdinand nowadays.” Edelgard raised her voice but quickly laughed it off when she saw Hubert’s face changed color from pale to red, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ferdinand’s face was in the same condition, “I’m just kidding, Hubert. Please stand up.”

Hubert did as she said. As soon as he was on his feet again, Edelgard came closer and patted his shoulder, “I know how you feel, Hubert. Losing someone dear to you is not easy. Even though I do not agree with your method but at the very least I have my Left and Right hands back. I’m glad to have both of you at my side again.”

Edelgard then regarded them, her expression turned serious, “Now that Ferdinand is back and Hubert is able to resume his duty again. This is the time that we strike back.”

Ferdinand found Hubert’s gaze among the vampires, reckoning him to come to his side, and Ferdinand did, with pleasure, in a few long strides, he settled beside Hubert, on the right side of Edelgard. The others did the same, scattering around their emperor with fire in their eyes.

With the return of Ferdinand, the Black Eagle Strike Force were official together again. Even if they were nothing but refugees, traitors of the Divine church and branded the most sinister creatures of all Follan, Ferdinand couldn’t imagine being anywhere else but here, with his comrades, his Emperor and with Hubert. 

This was his home.

Ferdinand von Aegir was born as a human noble, he had everything that any human being would want in their short lives. His beauty was beyond compare, his hair shone in the daylight and a heart broader than the sea. 

But he was willing to give up that light of days for a chance to walk alongside the man who took his heart and soul, forever in the eternal darkness of night.

And if you found Ferdinand standing hand in hand with a handsome vampire Minister, surrounded by the last of the vampire clans, all gathered in front of the big-scaled Follan map and in the middle of them stood the Imperial Emperor as she shouted, “Let’s take down the Church of Seiros!”

It meant the start of a new chapter for Follan had just begun.

But that belonged to another story.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> The fic is inspired by the violin sonata 'Devil's Trill' by Gieseppe Tartini, which is divided into 4 movements:  
> I. Larghetto affettuoso  
> II. Allegro moderato  
> III. Andante  
> IV. Allegro assai – Andante – Allegro assai
> 
> PS: Art by @emiemie27 on Twitter
> 
> To anyone who reads it to the end. Congrats!


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